By Jenny Booth and agencies
China today allowed the teenage boy it has chosen as the Panchen Lama to make his first public speech, delivering a carefully calibrated message about patriotism and harmony.
Gyaltsen Norbu, 16, was selected by the Chinese Government in 1995 to be the second most senior figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
Another boy of the same age, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, identified by the exiled Dalai Lama and his followers as the true reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama, was rejected by Chinese officials and has not been seen since.
He is believed to have been living under house arrest for 11 years, probably the world’s youngest political prisoner.
Today, Norbu – a tall, thin youth with dark hair who lives in seclusion in Beijing – appeared alongside 1,000 Buddhist monks and nuns at the World Buddhist Forum in Hangzhou, China, amid a heavy security presence with scores of police and plain-clothes guards.
He made a ten minute speech in Tibetan which, according to an official translation, dwelled on Buddhism’s responsibility to foster national unity.
“Defending the nation and working for the people is a solemn commitment Buddhism has made to the nation and society,” Norbu said. “Chinese society provides a favourable environment for Buddhist belief.”
He also praised his predecessor for having made “outstanding contributions to the unity of the country and the solidarity of the people”.
Neither the Dalai Lama, denounced by China as a “splittist”, nor the 23-year-old Karmapa Lama – Tibet’s third most important spiritual leader, who fled to India in 1999 – was invited to the conference, which appeared to be geared towards gaining greater public acceptance of Norbu.
A Chinese official said that the Dalai Lama wasn’t welcome, calling him a saboteur of ethnic unity. “If he appears at the forum, he will surely pose a really disharmonious note to the general harmonious tone,” said Qi Xiaofei, the vice-director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.
“The Dalai Lama is not only a religious figure but is also a long-time stubborn secessionist who has tried to split his Chinese motherland and break the unity among different ethnic groups.”
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in northern India since an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet in 1959.
China claims that the Dalai Lama’s recognition of a new Panchen violated traditional codes that had, at times, given the Chinese emperor a role in that process.
But a spokesman for the Dalai Lama today once more rejected Beijing’s right to make the final decision on reincarnations.
“Reincarnation is a religious belief and it cannot be decided by an administrative office,” said Thubten Samphel, speaking from the Tibetan government-in-exile’s headquarters in Dharmsala, northern India.
China’s control of Norbu indicates the long political game it is prepared to play to thwart the Dalai Lama, a Nobel peace laureate who is respected around the world.
Since the Panchen and Dalai lamas play a major role in recognising each other’s successors, Beijing’s influence over the Panchen Lama potentially gives it additional leverage over a future Dalai Lama.
The Chinese government has an equivocal relationship with religion, which it sees as a way to foster stability in times of rapid social and economic change. Social unrest has grown in the ideological vacuum of the post-Mao era.
But while cautiously encouraging Buddhism and Confucianism – which, unlike Christianity, are seen as homegrown and therefore not threatening to authority – the Chinese authorities have maintained strict control.
Thousands of temples destroyed during the Cultural Revolution have been rebuilt, but monasteries, temples, mosques and churches are still barred from operating schools, hospitals or other civic institutions.
The rules are especially tight in Tibet, where Buddhism is an integral part of the mountainous region’s identity. Many Tibetan monks and nuns have been jailed for supporting the Dalai Lama.
China has shown no qualms about crushing any challenge to its rule, banning the Falun Gong spiritual movement as an evil cult in 1999.
Liu Yandong, number two in the Chinese parliament’s advisory body and the most senior Chinese leader at the forum, had a political message to convey, playing down fears China’s rise would be a threat to the world.
“Internal harmony will definitely lead to external peace,” she said. “A peacefully developing China looks forward to a peacefully co-existing world.”
Among the attendees at the conference, one Tibetan monk praised the regime for its greater tolerance. “Things are more open and Buddhism is now developing very fast in China,” said Saichun Lodan, dressed like Norbu in deep red robes with a saffron lining.
Of the young Panchen’s speech, he said: “He’s studying very hard and growing very well.”
Others were less accommodating. One Tibetan Lama shook his head and declined to comment when asked about the Panchen’s speech. Another Lama smiled and only said:”It’s hard to explain” after a brief moment of silence.
The Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama are among hundreds of high Tibetan religious leaders believed to be reborn in a new body after they die. Search parties are sent out to examine children born soon after the high lama’s death who show auspicious signs, such as natural events at the time of the child’s birth, unusual intelligence, or memories of monastic life.
The choice is confirmed by monks who recognise their deceased teacher’s personality in the young incarnate, and the incarnate often recognises the monks, even if they are disguised.
Since the 17th century the Panchen Lama has acted as Tibet’s religious leader while the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is being sought, and the older of the two incarnates has been the religious teacher of the younger.
Some sects of Tibetan Buddhism look to the Panchen Lama as a religious leader even before the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, however, is recognised by all Tibetans as a religious leader who for centuries has guided the Tibetan government.
