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Reporter: John Taylor
MARK COLVIN: Next month the head of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Louise Arbour, will visit China. Human rights groups are hoping that she’ll raise the case of a Tibetan boy and his family who China has hidden for a decade. The boy’s crime was to be announced by the exiled Dalai Lama as Tibet’s second highest spiritual leader, the Panchen Lama.
The Chinese Government furiously rejected the announcement by the religious leader it considers a “splittist”, and chose another boy in his place.
China Correspondent John Taylor has been into Tibet on a Government-organised trip and tonight begins a two-part feature on the tale of two boys.
(Tibetan music from the Pachu Monastery)
JOHN TAYLOR: For centuries it’s own distinct form of Buddhism has been essential to Tibetan culture, society and identity, but in the 54 years that the Chinese Communist Party has ruled Tibet, Buddhism has been a threat to control and suppress.
(sound of music from the Pachu Monastery)
His holiness the Dalai Lama is revered in many parts of the world as Tibet’s spiritual leader. The next most important figure is the Panchen Lama.
When the Dalai Lama fled Chinese rule in 1959, the 10th Panchen Lama stayed and died 30 years later. In 1995 the Dalai Lama named then 6-year-old boy Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnated Panchen Lama.
The Chinese Government was outraged that a man it views as an enemy had made the decision unilaterally and had furiously said its own traditional approval role had been subverted.
The boy and his family were taken in custody by the authorities, and have never been seen since.
Thubten Samphel, from the Tibetan government in exile, believes it’s a tragedy.
THUBTEN SAMPHEL: The recognition of a Panchen Lama you know is a religious matter of religious belief and all Tibetans recognise his holiness the Dalai Lama as the supreme authority to recognise the succession of Panchen Lamas.
JOHN TAYLOR: China has appointed its own Panchen Lama, formerly known as Gyaltsen Norbu. In an interview with the Chinese state media thus year, he spoke of his deep faith.
(sound of Gyaltsen Norbu speaking)
“Right after I was born, even when I was in my mother’s womb, I was influenced by the sound of chanting scriptures,” he says.
Why this has all happened becomes clear when you realize that it’s the Panchen Lama that traditionally leads the search for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, long a thorn in China’s side.
Thubten Samphel from the Tibetan government in exile explains.
THUBTEN SAMPHEL: There is the custom to consult the Panchen Lama regarding the reincarnation of successive Dalai Lamas. It is also true that, you know, the succession of the Dalai Lamas, when they are adults, would also have a decisive say in the recognition of the successive Panchen Lamas of Tibet.
JOHN TAYLOR: The 10th Panchen Lama endured 14 years imprisonment and witnessed the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution on his faith and people. He died in 1989 shortly after he gave a speech in which he said Tibet had lost more than it gained under Chinese rule. But his reincarnation, the 11th Panchen Lama is a loyal son of China.
(sound of Gyaltsen Norbu speaking)
“For the people, I will always tell them to pray more,” he says, “to do good things, and to listen to the Chinese Communist Party to create the happy life.”
No mention of the boy the Dalai Lama chose in his place. Tibetan authorities like regional Vice Chairman Wu Yingjie deny that the unofficial Lama is in detention.
(sound of Wu Yingjie speaking)
“He doesn’t want to be interrupted by the outside world affecting his healthy growth. Now I want to assure you that he’s still living in his hometown happily,” he says.
No outsider has ever been able to talk to the boy to check.
This is John Taylor in China, for PM.
