Published by: World Tibet Network News,Wednesday,December 20, 1995

The Economist

16 December 1995

The squabble between China and exiled Tibetans over which...boy is the true Panchen Lama may seem to belong to the realms of comic opera. But beneath the absurdity lies a grim tale. A crackdown on political and religious leaders is underway in Tibet, on a scale...not seen since the late 1970s.

The early signs of such a purge pre-date the Panchen controversy. ...over a year ago, the government of Tibet announced...all social organizations, enterprises and institutions were to fall under a new "comprehensive management body" that, among other things, was to take over the management of temples and monasteries. In order "to firmly oppose separatism, protect and strengthen the unity of the motherland" all school students had to attend a daily flag-raising ceremony. ...later the Communist Party called for limits to the numbers of those entering monasteries: those in prison for "counter-revolutionary" crimes in Tibet are mostly monks or nuns.

It was in this context...a struggle broke out over the identity of the 11th Panchen Lama, a Tibetan leader second in spiritual authority only to the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959. Early last summer, a six-year-old boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, had been deemed by the China-blessed search party to be the previous Panchen's reincarnation. But the head of the official search party leaked word of the choice to the Dalai Lama. From India, he announced the news first, upstaging the authorities in Beijing.

At first the Chinese...huffed and puffed. The Bureau of Religious Affairs, which claims a monopoly over the transmigration of souls, complained...the Dalai Lama had ignored the correct selection process. But over the months China's fury...hardened. The authorities selected a new six-year-old, who was crowned as Panchen...December 8th, and the Chinese press is now painting little Gedhun as the embodiment of acquired sin. His parents are "notorious for speculation, deceit and scrambling for fame and profit". The unspeakable Gedhun...was said to have "once drowned a dog". Gedhun has since vanished, and is presumed under guard.

Chinese fury will now be concentrated on the Dalai Lama. In late November prominent religious leaders were ordered to prepare criticisms of him. These criticisms will be judged, according to a pro-Chinese religious leader, by four criteria, including "exposing and criticizing the Dalai" and "resolutely negating the so-called reincarnated boy". As the official Xinhua news agency puts it, "Any religion must invariably make patriotism the primary requirement for believers". Communist officials are...being forced into line. They have recently been reminded...they may not set up altars, bear photographs of the Dalai Lama or send their children to Tibetan schools in India.

China has, historically, considered the Panchen Lama to be its instrument in Tibet. But...it has not denied the Dalai Lama his religious authority. Now Xinhua has pronounced...the Dalai Lama is an "out-and-out calamity for Tibet and religion".

It is hard to see...China's response is in proportion to its embarassment at the Dalai Lama's public-relations coup over the first soul-boy. Nor has the Dalai Lama's overall policy...changed much. He has long called for talks with China over Tibet, and China did take part in indirect talks between 1980 and 1992.

True, he has warned of potential violence if China does not negotiate. ...his is a message of restraint. He calls for autonomy, not independence, and is fearful of any over-exuberant expression of independence in Tibet or abroad. "At present," the Dalai Lama said recently, "China is...in a period of transition, and any kind of demonstration might be used by the Chinese hardliners." With China's attitude now stiffening, the Dalai will come under greater pressure from hardliners in his own camp for confrontation with China.