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Reporter: John Taylor
MARK COLVIN: Now to the second part of our feature on Tibet’s second highest spiritual leader, the Panchen Lama.
As we heard last night, in 1995 Tibet’s highest leader – the exiled Dalai Lama – chose a six-year-old boy as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.
The Chinese Government rejected the choice, took the boy into custody and oversaw the appointment of another.
China Correspondent John Taylor has been into Tibet on a Government organised trip, and went to the Tashilunpo Monastery – the traditional home of the Panchen Lama.
He filed this report.
(sound of children singing)
JOHN TAYLOR: A group of young children walk through the Tashilunpo Monastery. The trainee monks are practicing mouth exercises that make it easier to read aloud Buddhist scripture.
They’re part of an ancient tradition that has seen hundreds of thousands of Tibetan boys study Buddhism.
Tibet is rapidly modernising under Chinese control, but senior monks at the monastery believe many boys still want to pursue a religious life.
“I don’t worry about Buddhism,” says a monk called Pingla. “There are lots of people who want to come to Tashilunpo Monastery. We will see whether they are talented. It’s not true that less people want to come here,” he says.
(sound of monks chanting)
The Tashilunpo Monastery is famous. For successive generations it’s been home to successive incarnations of the Panchen Lama – Tibet’s second highest religious figure.
But the current official Panchen Lama, a teenager, isn’t home. He lives in the heartland of the Chinese Communist Party, Beijing.
It’s considered a more appropriate place for him to learn. That’s because his is a contested position. There are actually two Panchen Lamas.
Ten years ago the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, actually chose another boy as the reincarnation of the 10th living Buddha.
China’s Communist Government disagreed, and oversaw the appointment of someone else.
Pingla the monk, who is also the direct of the monastery’s Democratic Management Committee, says there should be no confusion.
“The current Panchen Lama is the real Panchen Lama,” he says. “The Dalai Lama’s choice should be given up and shouldn’t be accepted.”
Tashilunpo’s former abbot helped the Dalai Lama make his selection. For his efforts he was jailed for seven years. He’s now out, but isn’t back at the monastery.
The Dalai Lama’s choice hasn’t been seen for 10 years, but the Chinese Government deny he’s being held captive. It’s more that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the boy, wants to be left alone, officials say.
Alison Reynolds, from the London-based Free Tibet Campaign, feels sorry for China’s choice of Panchen Lama.
ALISON REYNOLDS: He is clearly part of China’s propaganda strategy, part of China’s attempts to maintain control of Tibetan Buddhism, which has this very, very strong nationalist association. And followers of Tibetan Buddhism have this incredibly strong allegiance to their religious leaders, in particular the Dalai Lama.
So I think it’s clear that he has been used in the past and will be used in the future to propagate China’s view of the future of Tibet.
JOHN TAYLOR: Chinese Communist Party members aren’t allowed to be religious, but Tibetan Government official Bian Ba Ci Ren is a staunch defender of the Panchen Lama.
“The 11th Panchen Lama is not a stooge,” he says. “Under the help of eminent monks, and also the good studying environment, he has made great progress. Compared to ordinary people, he’s a genius.”
China has long campaigned to transform Tibetan Buddhism into a doctrine that promotes patriotism towards China and repudiates the Dalai Lama.
(sound of bell ringing)
Human rights groups say Communist officials decide how many monasteries operate, who leads them, who studies, what’s studied and what religious activities take place. Police also keep a close watch.
Faith and politics are intertwined in Tibet. Publicly, Pingla the monk has no problems with that.
“We will not accept the Panchen Lama chosen by the Dalai Lama,” he says.
“The Panchen Lama is the Lama of Tashilunpo Monastery. If that is the case, Tashilunpo Monastery will choose on its own, if the central government approves, then he will be the Panchen Lama,” he says.
This is John Taylor in China, for PM.
