A young Tibetan controversially appointed by China’s atheist Communist Party as the second-highest spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism has pledged to make the religion more Chinese.
Gyaltsen Norbu was installed by Beijing as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995 in defiance of the religion’s highest authority the Dalai Lama, whose pick for the role — a six-year-old boy — has since vanished from public view. China has yet to reveal any information on the whereabouts of the missing boy.
The Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama is dismissed as an imposter by many Tibetans at home and in exile, but he is often quoted in China’s state-run media toeing the Communist Party’s line and praising its policies in Tibet.
In a rare meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, Gyaltsen Norbu vowed to make his own contributions to promoting ethnic unity and systematically advancing “the sinicization of religion,” state news agency Xinhua reported.
The remarks refer to a sweeping campaign unleashed by Xi with an aim to purge religious faiths of foreign influence and align them more closely with traditional Chinese culture – and the authoritarian rule of the officially atheist Communist Party.
Gyaltsen Norbu also vowed to keep Xi’s teachings firmly in mind, resolutely support the party’s leadership and firmly safeguard national unity and ethnic solidarity, according to Xinhua.
He was told by Xi to carry forward the “patriotic and religious traditions” of Tibetan Buddhism and contribute to fostering “a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation,” Xinhua reported.
The meeting comes on the 30th year of the disappearance of the Dalai Lama appointed Panchen Lama.
Following the 1989 death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama named Tibetan child Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as his colleague’s reincarnation.
But three days after he was chosen, according to the US government, Gedhun and his family were disappeared by the Communist Party, which then appointed an alternative Panchen Lama. Gedhun hasn’t been seen in public since.
In a statement marking that anniversary, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced Chinese authorities for “abducting” him and his family. He called on Beijing to immediately release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and “stop persecuting Tibetans for their religious beliefs.”
In 2020, the Chinese government publicly acknowledged the fate of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima for the first time, describing him as “a college graduate with a job,” and that neither he nor his family wished to be disturbed in their “current normal lives.”
Meanwhile, Gyaltsen Norbu has occupied an increasingly high-profile role since becoming an adult, joining a top Chinese political body, often appearing at important events in Beijing and meeting large crowds in the Tibetan regions of China.
The contested appointment of the Panchen Lama is widely seen by experts and the Tibetan exile community as Beijing’s attempt to pave the way for the passing – and reincarnation – of the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since fleeing to India following a failed Tibetan uprising against Communist Party rule in 1959.
For decades, the Dalai Lama has been a persistent thorn in Beijing’s side as he commanded the loyalty of many Tibetan people from exile and kept their struggle for greater autonomy alive on the world stage. Chinese officials have condemned the Nobel Peace Prize laureate as a “separatist” and a “wolf in monk’s robes.”
The Dalai Lama has said he will release details about his succession around his 90th birthday in July. In his latest book, “Voice for the Voiceless,” the Dalai Lama said his successor will be born in the “free world,” which he described as outside China.
Beijing has insisted it will choose his successor – as well as the reincarnation of all Tibetan Buddhist lamas, but the Dalai Lama and his supporters have said that any successor named by China would not be respected.