By LORIEN HOLLAND

BEIJING, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- China Friday enthroned its controversial choice for the 11th panchen lama, the second highest ranking Tibetan spiritual leader, in a Tibetan monastery swarming with hundreds of Chinese soldiers.

Highlights of the consecration were shown on state-run television. The self-styled Tibetan government in exile, which had earlier announced the ceremony took place Wednesday, confirmed it was actually held Friday.

China's evening television news showed wellwishers waving flowers while monks and laymen draped traditional Tibetan scarves around the necks of government officials arriving at Tashilhunpo monastery in the town of Xigatze, 156 miles (250 km) from the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

Thubten Samphel, a spokesman for the Tibetan government in exile, said in a telephone interview that about 500 People's Liberation Army soldiers were in the monastery compound as 6-year-old Gyaincain Norbu was consecrated as the reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhism's second- holiest monk.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, the dalai lama, who lives in exile in Dharamsala, has rejected Beijing's choice of Norbu as a politically motivated attempt to tighten control over Tibet, which China annexed in 1950.

Norbu, attired in a gold tunic and hat, smiled but looked bewildered amid all the attention. A monk stood by his side, coaching him.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin sent a golden placard which urged the panchen lama "to safeguard the motherland and work in the interests of the people," and the boy obediently expressed his gratitude to Beijing and his love for China.

Beijing's emissary, State Councilor Li Tieying, was greeted by 40,000 residents of Xigatze. He joined Gyalcan Norbu, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government and Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Council's Religious Affairs Bureau, in jointly presiding over the ceremony.

Samphel said admission to the ceremony itself was strictly controlled.

"Only those with special identity cards were admitted and it seems security was very tight to prevent any potential disturbances," he said.

Exiled Tibetan leaders were swift in condemning the rituals.

"The enthronement of the pretender panchen lama goes against the beliefs, traditions and religious practices of the Tibetan people. It is illegal, invalid and the Tibetan people will never accept this," said Kalon Sonam Topgyal, chairman of the self-styled Tibetan administration in exile.

The panchen lama is the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, but became its de facto leader in Chinese eyes when Tibet's god-king, the dalai lama, fled to India after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

According to Tibetan Buddhist beliefs, a lama's spirit is reincarnated when he dies. As the head of the religion, the dalai lama claims ultimate responsibility for identifying the reincarnation of the panchen lama.

But Beijing says it has the final word, and reacted with fury in May when the dalai lama named 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the 10th panchen lama, who died in 1989.

Beijing declared the choice invalid, illegal and an interference in China's internal affairs, and swiftly struck Nyima's name from its shortlist of possible candidates.

Nyima and his parents then disappeared, and Tibetan monks were quoted in the official Chinese media as saying his family had no Buddhist virtues, were liars, and the boy himself had committed the "heinous" crime of drowning a dog.

On Nov. 29, Chinese officials presided over a lot-drawing ceremony in Tibet and named Gyaincain Norbu as the genuine reincarnation. China then stepped up security in Tibet after numerous wall posters supporting the dalai lama appeared in the capital, Lhasa, and other towns in the mountainous region.

In the Indian capital New Dehli, about 400 Tibetans held a demonstration Friday to protest the ceremony organized by Beijing.

"Nyima is the real Panchen Lama," Tibetan protesters shouted as they marched on the crowded streets of Indian capital, carrying posters of the little boy.

India announced earlier this week that it planned to step up security for the dalai lama, by providing elaborate alarms for his palace and a bullet-proof Mercedes.

The dalai lama's drivers have been given special training in defensive tactics by India's elite army commandos.