Published by: World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, February 20, 1996

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities have banned photographs of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the dalai lama and the boy he named last year as the reincarnation of the panchen lama, a spokesman for the Tibetan government in-exile said Saturday.

Security police in the Tibetan capital Lhasa were ordered to confiscate photographs of the dalai lama and six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, named in May as the 11th panchen lama, said Tempa Tsering, in a statement issued from Dharamsala, India, the seat of the government in- exile.

The photos were labeled "reactionary literature," Tsering said.

The authorities, who began their campaign by confiscating 25 photographs of the dalai lama from the Potala Palace on Jan. 24, are expected to take similar action in the Sera, Ganden and Drepung monasteries, he said.

The crackdown followed Beijing's enthronement in December of 6-year- old Gyaincain Norbu as the second highest spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism after rejecting the dalai lama's choice as "illegal and invalid."

Exiled groups opposed to Chinese rule in the Himalayan region have said Beijing's decision to challenge the dalai lama's authority and divide Tibetans with rival panchen lamas has met concerted opposition.

Reports trickling out of Lhasa since January suggest local authorities have become increasingly worried about protests and acts of sabotage.

Communist Party leaders in Tibet acknowledged last month the reincarnation crisis had plunged the region into political turmoil and said their top priority this year would be to "oppose at every opportunity the splittist activities of the dalai lama faction."

Chinese troops invaded Tibet in 1951. The dalai lama fled to India in 1959 with thousands of followers after a failed anti-Chinese uprising. Many Tibetans who worship the exiled god-king and winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize consider his photograph to be sacred.

The panchen lama has historically played a mediating role between the authority of the dalai lama and the influence of the Chinese government.

The 10th panchen lama, who died in 1989, was seen by many Tibetans as an apologist for Beijing's policies in Tibet. He refused to join the dalai lama and his supporters in exile, but later became a vocal critic of the Chinese communists, for which he was jailed for eight years.

The dalai lama has said the soul boy he named has been missing since June and has appealed to government, religious and human rights groups to intervene to ensure the child's safety and freedom.

China has denied charges the boy and his parents were placed in detention but refuses to disclose their whereabouts.