published by World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, December 05, 1995

Stephanie Ho

Beijing, Dec. 4, 1995, (VOA)

intro: the chinese government and the dalai lama engaged in a heated, high-profile tug-of-war for the hearts and minds of the tibetan people this year. As v-o-a's stephanie ho reports, each side named its own choice for the second highest-ranking tibetan spiritual leader, the panchen lama -- a move that threatens to widen a rift between the two sides.

Text: the past year was marked by a bitter dispute over who has the ultimate authority to name the next panchen lama.

In may, the dalai lama -- who lives in exile in india -- announced he had found the six-year-old soul boy, or reincarnation of the 10th panchen lama who died in 1989.

China harshly rejected the dalai lama's choice and launched a full-scale media campaign to try to discredit the exiled religious leader as a rebel trying to split tibet from china.

/// Foreign ministry spokesman act ///

Dalai lama is more than a religious figure. However, he is a political exile who has long been engaged in activities designed to split the motherland.

/// End act ///

Shortly after the dalai lama's announcement, the abbot of the tashilunpo monastery, chadrel rimpoche, was detained and replaced as head of the reincarnation search committee. Reports say authorities suspected him of passing information to the dalai lama about the search process that helped the dalai lama name his soul boy choice.

In november, the government convened a secret meeting of tibetan and chinese religious leaders and officials in beijing to formally reject the dalai lama's selection and confirm three other candidates.

In an elaborate ceremony dating back more than 200 years to imperial china, the names of the three finalists were written on ivory tiles and placed in a golden urn in the tibetan capital of lhasa.

With much fanfare and publicity, the government drew out the name of its choice to be the next officially-sanctioned panchen lama.

Tibetans in exile have said they will regard any soul boy other than the one named by the dalai lama to be a pretender. But, the chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the government believes its selection will help promote unity in tibet and stressed, in china, loyalty to the motherland is of prime importance.

/// Foreign ministry spokesman act ///

A qualified believer should first be a patriot, and any legal religion must firstly demand its believers to be patriots.

/// End act ///

At the same time, official media stepped up attacks on the child named by the dalai lama, saying the boy had drowned a dog and was therefore not eligible to be a top lama. Official media also accused the boy's parents of altering his birthdate so he could qualify as a soul boy candidate.

The dalai lama issued a statement from exile in dharamsala, india, saying he stands by his choice of soul boy. In a letter to chinese president jiang zemin, the tibetan leader expressed concern for the child, saying he has heard the boy is under detention and has recently not been seen in public.

Chinese officials have maintained the six-year-old boy chosen by the dalai lama is blameless and will not be harmed. But, despite repeated questioning by foreign reporters, the government has not yet publicly revealed the child's whereabouts. (Signed)