BEIJING – China said a boy picked by the Dalai Lama as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism and missing since 1995 is leading a “happy, normal” life, as his Beijing-selected replacement surfaced at a monastery.
In a rare comment about the boy chosen to be the next Panchen Lama — and since dubbed the world’s youngest political prisoner by rights groups — the Chinese foreign ministry told AFP Tuesday he is now a student progressing well.
“He is not the incarnated soul boy,” the ministry said in response to questions as to the whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima who has not been seen since he was put under house arrest by China as a six-year-old.
“He’s only an ordinary Chinese child, the same as other children. He is now in a good healthy condition, leading a normal and happy life.
“He has got a good cultural education. He is a student now and is studying well.”
Beijing rarely refers to the child, chosen in 1995 according to ancient tradition by the exiled Dalai Lama, Tibet’s top spiritual leader, as the reincarnation of the former Panchen Lama who died in 1989.
Chinese police swiftly seized the boy, and in an unorthodox course of action for an officially atheist regime, Beijing selected its own candidate and has since then trumpeted that child’s legitimacy.
The boy’s disappearance sparked angry scenes in Tibet and even today protests are held by activists across the world demanding to know where he is.
The Panchen Lama, considered a living god, is of great importance in Tibetan Buddhism — and in Chinese-Tibetan relations — because he is charged with leading the search for a reincarnated Dalai Lama.
“Beijing believes that their control over Tibet’s spiritual figures would ensure their control of the minds and loyalty of the Tibetan people,” the Tibet Information Network said.
The boy selected by China, Gyaincain Norbu, himself rarely seen, surfaced Tuesday at a monastery in northwestern Qinghai province, which borders Tibet, monks there told AFP.
“The Panchen Lama arrived three days ago. I don’t know how long he will stay here,” said the Tibetan who heads the monastery’s managing committee.
“The Panchen Lama has been reading Buddhist scriptures every day,” added the lama, who did not want to be named.
The 13-year-old, who has lived much of his life shrouded in secrecy, was expected to leave Kumbum, 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) northwest of the provincial capital Xining city later Tuesday, the lama said, but did not know where he was going.
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), quoting what it said were “reliable sources”, said the boy could be heading to the Labrang Tashi Khyil Monastery in neighbouring Gansu province.
Monks at the Labrang monastery and local police could not confirm this.
The Dalai Lama’s selection has not been seen in public since he was detained and the Chinese boy is shown only occasionally, usually meeting senior Chinese leaders or taking part in religious ceremonies in Beijing.
Activists say Gyaincain Norbu, who enjoys little support among Tibetans, is being groomed as a symbol of Beijing’s control over the disputed territory.
China has ruled Tibet in an often brutal fashion since it occupied the Himalayan area in 1951, and has been accused of trying to wipe out Tibet’s culture through repression and a flood of ethnic Chinese immigration.
