Gyaltsen Norbu—selected by China in 1995 to serve as Tibet’s Panchen Lama—had gone to Sichuan’s Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on July 12 to participate in a religious conference, according to a text message received by RFA from within the region.

“He was also seen making a visit to Ngaba Barkham, Dzoege, and Khungchu, where Tibetans were told to show up and greet him. But unlike other religious figures whom Tibetans revere and approach to receive blessings, no Tibetans showed up to welcome him,” RFA’s source said.

“The only people who came to see him were those whose attendance had been specifically arranged by the Chinese,” the source said.

Residents of the areas visited by the monk widely derided by Tibetans as “China’s Panchen” had also been restricted in their movements by authorities and told to keep the streets free of cars, the source added.

Speaking to RFA, Shel Gedhun Tsering—a former Tibetan political prisoner now living in Australia—confirmed the Panchen’s tour of the region, citing sources in the visited areas.

“My contacts back home told me that abbots and religious figures in monasteries in the region had been coerced into receiving and greeting the Panchen Lama, also being ordered to pose for pictures with him,” Tsering said.

The Chinese government now often uses Tibetan religious figures for political propaganda and publicity purposes, said Tsering Tsomo, director of the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

“These visits are choreographed under the direct supervision of the Chinese government, and whatever Norbu says or does is aimed only at advancing the agenda of China’s ruling Communist Party. He acts only as a spokesperson,” Tsomo said.

Vanished into Chinese custody

Gyaltsen (in Chinese, Gyaincain) Norbu was named as Panchen Lama by China in May 1995 to replace a candidate who was selected as a young boy by Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and who vanished into Chinese custody together with his family and has not been heard from since.

Tibetan tradition holds that senior Buddhist monks and other respected religious leaders are reincarnated in the body of a child after they die.

Chinese authorities have had difficulty persuading Tibetans to accept their Panchen Lama as the official face of Tibetan Buddhism in China, though, and ordinary Tibetans and monks in monasteries traditionally loyal to the Dalai Lama have been reluctant to acknowledge or receive him.

Beijing has sought in recent years to control the identification of other Tibetan religious leaders, and says that the selection of the next Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India following a failed 1959 Tibetan revolt against Chinese rule, must “comply with Chinese law.”

The Dalai Lama himself says however that if he returns, his successor will be born in a country outside of Chinese control.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Xi, also General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, met top officials of the Tibet Military Command of the People’s Liberation Army, guarding China’s border with India in Arunachal Pradesh, and also called for “fully strengthening the work of training soldiers and war preparation,” the Global Times reported.

Xi, 68, made his first visit to Tibet as President from Wednesday to Friday. But his important visit was kept under wraps by China’s official media till the end of the tour on Friday due to the sensitivities of the trip.

As part of his trip, he first went to Nyingchi, a strategically located town close to the border with Arunachal Pradesh.

On Thursday, Xi went to Nyingchi Railway Station, learning about the overall design of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway and how the Lhasa-Nyingchi section has been operated since June 25.

It was the first time in recent years, a top Chinese leader visited the Tibetan border town. From there he went to the provincial capital Lhasa by the recently launched high-speed train.

He wound up his visit to the politically sensitive Himalayan region on Friday by meeting “representatives of troops stationed in Tibet”.

“Xi met with representatives of troops stationed in Tibet, calling for efforts to strengthen military training and preparedness in all aspects and make contributions to the lasting stability, prosperity and development of Tibet,” the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

owever, the CPC-run tabloid Global Times said that Xi in his meeting with the PLA representatives “stressed that the local troops should fully strengthen the work of training soldiers and war preparation and contribute positive strength to promote the long-term stability and prosperity of Tibet”.

Xi’s first visit to Tibet took place amidst the current India-China military tensions in eastern Ladakh.

According to Xinhua, Xi visited the Tibet Autonomous Region in connection with the 70th anniversary of Tibet’s “peaceful liberation the first time in the history of the Party and the country.”

He extended congratulations to the 70th anniversary of Tibet’s peaceful liberation, visited officials and ordinary people of various ethnic groups and conveyed the CPC Central Committee’s care to them, the report said.

He said that at present, Tibet is at a new historical starting point of its development, and the CPC’s leadership must be upheld and the path of “socialism with Chinese characteristics” must be followed.

Xi said over the past 70 years Tibet has made historic strides in the social system and realised full economic and social development, with people’s living standards significantly improved.

“It has been proven that without the CPC, there would have been neither new China nor new Tibet,” Xi said.”The CPC Central Committee’s guidelines and policies concerning Tibet work are completely correct.”

China is accused of suppressing cultural and religious freedom in the remote and mainly Buddhist Himalayan region. China has rejected the accusations.

In his meetings in Tibet, Xi stressed fully implementing the CPC’s “fundamental guidelines governing religious work, respecting the religious beliefs of the people, adhering to the principle of independence and self-governance in religious affairs.

He also stressed governing religious affairs in accordance with the law and guiding Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to a socialist society, the Xinhua report said.

Since becoming President in 2013, Xi has pursued a firm policy of stepping up security control of Tibet. Beijing has been cracking down on Buddhist monks and followers of the Dalai Lama, who despite his exile remained widely admired spiritual leader and worshipped by Tibetans.

Xi also pushed the Tibetan government and the military to strengthen border security by improving the infrastructure of the border villages including building new dwellings for residents.

Xi’s policies on Tibet include the “sinicization” of Tibetan Buddhism, bringing it in tune with the policies of the ruling Communist Party.

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Xi arrived at the Nyingchi Mainling Airport on Wednesday and was warmly welcomed by local people and officials of various ethnic groups, Xinhua news agency reported.

He then visited the Nyang River Bridge, to inspect the ecological preservation in the basin of the Brahmaputra river, which is called Yarlung Zangbo in the Tibetan language.

Nyingchi is a prefecture-level city in Tibet that is adjacent to the Arunachal Pradesh border. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which is firmly rejected by India.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Chinese leaders periodically visit Tibet. But Xi, who also heads the ruling Communist Party of China and the powerful Central Military Commission — the overall high command of the Chinese military — is perhaps the first top leader in recent years to visit Tibet’s border town.

Nyingchi was in news in June when China fully operationalised its first bullet train in Tibet. The train connects Tibet’s provincial capital Lhasa with Nyingchi. It has a designed speed of 160 km per hour and operates on a single-line electrified railway covering 435.5-km.

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In India’s northwestern territory of Ladakh, celebrations were held on Sunday at Tiktse monastery in the regional capital Leh—the first observance to be held in the territory, the scene of recent border clashes between Indian and Chinese troops.

Event organizer Lobsang Tsultrim noted that although the Panchen Lama’s birthday is regularly celebrated by Tibetans around the world, this was the first celebration to be held in Ladakh.

“It is a sad fact that he has not been with us all these years,” Tsultrim said. “His disappearance has been an unfortunate reality not just for Tibetans, but for other Buddhist and Himalayan communities as well.”

“Now, we are celebrating the Panchen Lama’s birthday today so that we can explain the situation [of his continued disappearance] to our esteemed guests and try to do something about it,” Tsultrim said.

The Buddhist community of Ladakh had overlooked the Panchen Lama’s birthday until this year, agreed Thupten Tsewang, president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association. “But now we must continue to celebrate this significant day,” he said.

“The Panchen Rinpoche was abducted when he was only six years old,” said Tenzin Choephel, a representative of the Ladakh Student Body, using an honorific Tibetan term for a revered spiritual teacher.

“But we and the Indian government then overlooked this situation for such a long time. From now on we, the youth of Ladakh, will do everything in our power to raise awareness of this issue,” Choephel said.

Celebrations were also held on Monday at Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Bylakuppe, in southern India’s Karnataka state, the exile branch of the Panchen Lama’s traditional monastic seat in Shigatse, Tibet, with Tashi Lhunpo’s abbot Zikyab Rinpoche calling on China to free their detained spiritual leader.

In a statement, Zikyab Rinpoche noted that NGOs and sympathetic governments of countries around the world, including the United States, have “collectively intensified their demands” that the Panchen Lama be freed.

“We will not rest until the issue is resolved,” Zikyab Rinpoche said.

Forcibly disappeared

Tibet’s Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was recognized on May 14, 1995 at the age of six as the 11th Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989.

The recognition by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama angered Chinese authorities, who three days later took the boy and his family into custody and then installed another boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as their own candidate in his place.

Tibetans remain bitter about Chinese intervention in the selection of the current 11th Panchen Lama, whose predecessor died in 1989, and the Panchen Lama installed by Beijing remains unpopular with Tibetans both in exile and at home.

Concerns over the advancing age of the Dalai Lama, now 85, have meanwhile renewed uncertainties in recent years over his possible successor after he dies, with Beijing claiming the right to name his successor and the Dalai Lama himself saying that any future Dalai Lama will be born outside of China.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against China’s rule.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Trinley Choedon and Pema Ngodup for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Tibet’s Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was recognized on May 14, 1995 at the age of six as the 11th Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989.

The recognition by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama angered Chinese authorities, who three days later took the boy and his family into custody and then installed another boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as their own candidate in his place.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a news briefing that on his 32nd birthday on Sunday, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima would be “forced to spend another year disappeared, separated from his community, and denied his rightful place as a prominent Tibetan Buddhist leader.”

“We call on the PRC Government to immediately make public the Tibetan-venerated Panchen Lama’s whereabouts and to give us this opportunity to meet with the Panchen Lama in person,” said the spokesman, who underscored U.S. support for Tibetans’ religious freedom and cultural identity.

“We respect Tibetans’ right to select, educate, and venerate their own leaders, like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, according to their own beliefs, and without government interference,” added Price.

U.S. officials have made similar appeals to Beijing in the past, but Lobsang Sangay, the Sikyong, or leader, of Tibetan Central Tibetan Administration said this year remarks were “one of the strongest so far.”

“I particularly want to thank the State Department for urging the PRC to make the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama known to the public, and to create an opportunity for the U.S. government to meet with the Panchen Lama,” he told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

‘Absurdity and ruthlessness’

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reiterated its call for the Chinese government to release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.

“It has been nearly 26 years since the Chinese Communist Party’s enforced disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was only six years old at the time of his abduction. As Gedhun turns 32 on April 25 this year, his whereabouts and wellbeing remain unknown. This lack of information is unacceptable,” said noted USCIRF Commissioner Nadine Maenza.

“USCIRF renews its call for the Chinese government to allow an independent expert to visit and confirm the wellbeing of the 11th Panchen Lama, and to release him immediately and unconditionally,” she added.

“It is despicable that the Chinese Communist Party continues to interfere in the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama,” added USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel.

“The combination of the level of absurdity and ruthlessness in the CCP’s persecution of the Tibetan community should alarm the international community, which should stand united in calling for the release of the Panchen Lama.”

Bhuchung Tsering, interim president of the International Campaign for Tibet, told RFA that “the strong statement from the U.S. government will be helpful in garnering more attention around the world.”

The Tibet Policy and Support Act of 2020, passed in the U.S. Congress in December and signed into law by  then President Donald Trump, establishes as U.S. policy that the selection of Tibetan religious leaders, including future successors to exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is a decision to be made only by Tibetans, free from Chinese government interference.

Concerns over the advancing age of the Dalai Lama, now 85, have renewed uncertainties in recent years over his possible successor after he dies, with Beijing claiming the right to name his successor and the Dalai Lama himself saying that any future Dalai Lama will be born outside of China.

Tibetans remain bitter about Chinese intervention in the selection of the current 11th Panchen Lama, whose predecessor died in 1989, and the Panchen Lama installed by Beijing remains unpopular with Tibetans both in exile and at home.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against China’s rule.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported and translated by Kalden Lodoe for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

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Dharamshala — President Dr Lonsang Sangay said that the Chinese Nobel Peace Laureate, Liu Xiaobo, was perhaps the first Chinese intellectual to be sentenced over his comments urging Chinese government to respect people of Tibet.

The Central Tibetan Administration led by the President held a prayer gathering at the main temple in Dharamshala, for deceased Chinese Nobel Peace Laureate, Liu Xiaobo, a prominent democracy activist and staunch supporter of Tibetan aspirations.

Addressing the prayer ceremony, President Dr Sangay said he mourned the loss of one of the greatest champions for democracy, protection of human rights and freedom in China. “Liu Xiaobo was the first Chinese citizen to be awarded a Nobel Prize while living in China. Above all, he was among the first Chinese intellectuals to openly support genuine autonomy for Tibet.

“Liu Xiaobo is one rare Chinese intellectual who said His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the soul of Tibet and the best way for the Chinese government to show respect to Tibetans is to enable the soul of the snow-land to return to Tibet,” the president said.

“He was perhaps the first Chinese intellectual to be sentenced for speaking up for Tibet. In 1996 he was sentenced to three years in a labour camp for writing a joint letter, to China’s former President Jiang Zemin, supporting Tibetan self-determination and dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In March 2008, in the aftermath of the Tibetan uprising, he co-authored and signed the ‘Twelve Suggestions for Dealing with the Tibetan Situation”.

“His co-authoring of Charter 08, a manifesto advocating reform, freedom and democracy in China, is an act of unparalleled courage and sacrifice,” Dr Sangay said, remembering China’s most prominent dissident, according to the CTA’s official website.

“The Tibetan movement has lost a dear friend. But it is my belief that Liu Xiaobo’s ideas and unremitting efforts would continue to inspire, long after his death.”

“For us, Liu’s dream for a democratic China is still alive; his vision for a truly democratic China will be fulfilled,” the President concluded.

According to the CTA’s official website (www.tibet.net), the prayer gathering joined by hundreds of Tibetans in Dharamshala, in expression of respect and gratitude to their Chinese friend.

Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. This is really an incredible statement by the Nobel Committee and a great push for democracy and human rights in China. Liu was one of China’s most prominent democracy and rights advocates, was serving an 11-year prison term for calling for democracy, rights and a multi-party system in Charter 08.

Charter 08 was initially signed by a small group of intellectuals and dissidents, though quickly signed by more than 2,000 citizens shortly after publication. It was intended to be a road map for how political change could safely occur in China.

Liu also stands out because of his strong support for Tibet and the Tibetan Government in Exile’s position of meaningful autonomy. In 2000, he authored an essay titled “The Right of Self-government,” which supported the Dalai Lama’s push for Tibetan autonomy (Chinese version, English translation).

Liu has also put forward a specific plan for improving the situation in Tibet, authored with Wang Lixiong, “Twelve Suggestions on Dealing with the Tibetan Situation.” It was written just after the start of the March 2008 national uprising in Tibet, at a time when tensions were high and a massive crackdown against Tibetans was beginning.

Following a year in detention and a two-hour trial, he was sentenced to 11 years in December 2009 for inciting subversion of state power. On 26 June 2017, he was granted medical parole after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He died on 13 July, becoming the second Nobel laureate to perish in custody (Carl von Ossietzky, an anti-Nazi pacifist, died in 1938).

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