Published by Tibet News Digest - December 1995

Chinese Communist leaders, after rejecting Gedhun Choekyi Nyima who was found by a Beijing sanctioned search committee and confirmed in May by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, quickly installed their own pretender, Gyaltsen Norbu, in a ceremony at Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Shigatse. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has not been seen since July. Tibet's exiled leader has said the six year old boy, now Tibet's second most important spiritual leader, may be the world's "youngest political prisoner." Chadrel Rinpoche, the abbot of Tashi Lhunpo who led the search committee until Beijing removed him for allegedly communicating with the Dalai Lama, has not been seen since May. Chinese authorities deny that Chadrel Rinpoche and the young Panchen Lama are being detained or that their rights are being violated. China's actions have brought worldwide protest. In response Xinhua news agency presented Beijing's position: "Any religion must invariably make patriotism the primary requirement for believers

. . . If his [the Dalai Lama's] words are followed, Tibetan Buddhism will be . . . endangering its due position and future in Chinese society." The Dalai Lama says he remains "fully committed to the middle approach: not insisting on complete separation, complete independence from PRC [the People's Republic of China]," according to Associated Press.