World Tibet Network News Tuesday, May 12, 1998

1000 birthday cards are destined for 9-year-old detained by Chinese

The Gazette, Montreal, Monday, May 4, 1998

by: Alexander Norris

Canadian diplomats plan to hand authorities in China more than 1,000 birthday cards intended for a 9-year-old Tibetan boy they have kept in detention for three years, a Foreign Affairs Department spokesperson says.

It will be a rare step - one department spokesman Jennifer Ledwidge couldn't recall ever being taken by a Canadian government.

"It's a highly unusual situation," Ledwidge acknowledged in an interview last week. Using Canadian diplomats to pass on a message for a political prisoner, she said, "hasn't happened before, as far as I know."

But Ledwidge said Canada opposes the imprisonment of the Panchen Lama - the second most important spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists - and of all people detained for their religious beliefs.

Among the birthday cards sent by Canadians to the Panchen Lama, who is thought to be the world's youngest political prisoner, are more than 150 sent by pupils attending Montreal's FACE school, says the Canada Tibet Committee, which spearheaded the initiative.

The cards were sent in care of Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy's office because China has refused to reveal where the Panchen Lama is detained; the committee said it felt Canada's "engaged relationship" with Beijing might be useful in getting the greetings to the boy.

Gendhun Choekyi Nyima was taken into police custody in May 1995 after Tibet's exiled leader, the Dalai Lama proclaimed him the 11th Panchen Lama. Although officially an atheist state, China, which invaded and annexed Tibet in 1959 in violation of international law, then named another boy of its own choosing as

the Panchen Lama.

Ledwidge siad Axworthy's office has received more than 1,000 cards for the jailed Panchen Lama, and expects to get more.

"They'll be sent to our embassy in Beijing...Our representatives at the Canadian embassy will then present them to the Chinese government to be handed over to the Panchen Lama," she said.

"We oppose the detention of any individual because of his religious beliefs," Ledwidge added, "and we would hope for a speedy resolution of the Panchen Lama's case that respects the wishes of all Tibetans."

Canada maintains a warm diplomatic relationship with China and has declined to take a formal position on Beijing's occupation of Tibet - although Ledwidge's remarks seemed to accept this as a fait accompli.

"We are very concerned about the human-rights situation in China, including Tibet," she said. "We wish to see greater respect for human rights in China in general and Tibet in particular."