published by: World Tibet Network News, Thursday,November 30, 1995

(Australian Associated Press) Nov 30, 1995

BEIJING, Nov 30 AAP - China today warned that patriotism still came before religion as it insisted the government-sanctioned choice of a new Tibetan Buddhist leader superseded the original selection by the Dalai Lama.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang also said six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima-- the original choice of the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama -- was not incarcerated, despite reports to the contrary.

He said the selection of six-year-old "soul boy" Gyaincain Norbu yesterday had been a smooth process but for the actions of the Dalai Lama, who made his choice for Tibet's second most important religious leader last May.

While the exiled Dalai Lama was a religious leader, he was also a separatist whose actions surrounding the Panchen Lama had been aimed at splitting the Tibetan automonous region from China, Shen said.

Shen denied conceptions that Tibet would now be divided between religion and government by Gyaincain Norbu's selection -- made by drawing his number from a golden urn ahead of two other government-sanctioned candidates.

In so doing he made it clear Beijing's atheist government still believed that despite increased religous freedom in post-Mao Zedong China, love of country should still outweigh spiritual beliefs.

"Religion should be consistent with patriotism," Shen told journalists at a regular briefing.

"A qualified believer should first be a patriot, and any legal religion must first demand its believers to be patriots. These things should go hand in hand.

"The so-called selection of a soul boy by the Dalai Lama does not accord with religious rituals nor legitimate procedures. Therefore, the Dalai Lama's choice is void and null.

"The Dalai Lama is more than a religious figure -- he is a separatist. What he has done is mainly separatist activities."

Despite the Dalai Lama's work, the official selection of the 11th Panchen Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th such elder, who died in 1989, would not adversely affect stability and unity in Tibet, said Shen, playing down the perceived threat of a rekindling of social unrest.

"On the contrary, it will only further promote the unity of Tibet," he said. "The reincarnation of the Panchen Lama is a great event in Tibetan Buddhism and in the social life of Tibet.

"The selection of the soul boy is in accordance with religious rituals and historic conventions of Tibetan Buddhism, and will have a positive and profound impact on the prosperity and development of Tibet."

Shen also denied reports Gedhum Choekyi Nyima was in government custody. "We've no idea about his wherabouts, however, what the Dalai Lama has done has no impact upon this boy, so there should be no problem," he said. "He is not missing, nor incarcerated, so I don't know the source of those false reports. I think he should be where he was born."

Shen's comments followed US concerns voiced yesterday by State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns about the impact the dispute would have on religious freedom, which was guaranteed by the Chinese constitution.

"We are concerned about the ability of the Tibetan Buddhists to practice their religion freely," Burns said.

China has maintained its sovereignty over Tibet since its communist forces occupied the region in 1949.