A teenage boy being groomed by China to become the new Tibetan religious leader has been allowed to meet tens of thousands of people in a rare trip, state media said.
The 11th Panchen Lama, who is rarely seen in public, held head-touching ceremonies to bless more than 60,000 believers during a trip to Tibetan-inhabited areas of southwest China’s Sichuan province, the Xinhua news agency said.
The trip, which was broadcast on state television and widely covered in state media, could mean the government believes the 15-year-old — who has been under its strict tutelage since he was five — is ready for a more public role.
The news agency referred to the boy as “the highest leader of Tibetan Buddhism in China” — which reflects the government’s attempt to use him to rival the role of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.
China has occupied Tibet since 1950. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Under Tibetan Buddhism, he ranks above the Panchen Lama.
The teenager, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, is widely seen as a Beijing puppet. He was chosen by the atheist Chinese regime in 1995, when he was five, as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama.
The Dalai Lama’s own choice, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, disappeared from public view in 1995 and is believed to have been under a form of house arrest ever since.
Many devoted Tibetan Buddhists question the credentials of the Beijing-picked Panchen Lama.
Media reports said the boy was “warmly greeted” by believers, including 10,000 who congregated outside his residence waiting for a chance to see him.
It is common for China to stage-manage politically sensitive events, including screening or trucking in large numbers of people.
Xinhua said the visit was the first by the teenager to Sichuan, where the second largest population of Tibetans lives outside of Tibet itself.
The thousands who congregated to see the Beijing-picked Panchen Lama not only received head-touching ceremonies but also got him to touch portraits, badges and red diamond knots, Xinhua said.
The teenager toured dozens of counties of Sichuan and held religious rituals in more than 10 Tibetan Buddhist temples there, according to Xinhua.
Xinhua cited the boy saying he would carry forward the “patriotic traditions” handed down from his predecessors and do his best “to promote the country’s reunification, unity of the various ethnic groups, and social and economic development.”
The boy has received almost all his education, including Buddhist teachings, in the Chinese capital.
Scores of Buddhist monks who had openly expressed opposition to Beijing’s choice of Panchen Lama have been jailed, according to rights groups.
