Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, June 7: The Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, widelt known as “fake Panchen” pledged to support the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign to “sinicise” Tibetan Buddhism during a face-to-face closed door meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday.
Norbu, appointed by Beijing as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995 after the Dalai Lama’s recognized Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was kidnapped and forcibly disappeared by the Chinese government, reiterated his support for the Communist Party’s agenda to integrate Tibetan Buddhism into China’s broader national identity. “I will firmly support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and resolutely safeguard the unity of the motherland and national unity,” Norbu stated according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also party general secretary and commander-in-chief of the military, urged Norbu to carry forward the “patriotic and religious traditions” of Tibetan Buddhism. Xi emphasised the role of the Panchen Lama in fostering a “strong sense of community for the Chinese nation”, according to state media.
The meeting comes on the 30th anniversary of the disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the six-year-old boy recognized by the Dalai Lama in 1995 as the true 11th Panchen Lama. Gedhun and his family have not been seen in public since, and China has refused to provide details about their whereabouts. In 2015, Chinese government spokesperson claimed that the Panchen Lama was “being educated, living a normal life, growing up healthily, and does not wish to be disturbed.” In 2020, the spokesperson further stated that Gedhun was “a college graduate with a job” who wanted privacy, and that neither he nor his family wished to be disturbed in their “current normal lives.” However, no further specifics have been provided.
Tibetans inside and in exile consider Gyaltsen Norbu as a political appointee and dismiss him as an imposter. Despite Beijing’s efforts to bolster his profile, including his inclusion in top political bodies and frequent appearances at official events, his credibility remains in question among Tibetans.
In a statement marking the anniversary of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s disappearance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned China for “abducting” him and his family, calling for their immediate release and for Beijing to end its persecution of Tibetans for their faith.
Experts say that China’s appointment of Norbu and control over Tibetan Buddhism are part of a broader strategy to ensure the Communist Party oversees the eventual reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, a process Beijing insists it will control. The Dalai Lama, who turns 90 years this July, has lived in exile in India since 1959, has said his successor will be born outside of Chinese-controlled Tibet, dismissing any Beijing-appointed successor as illegitimate.
Meanwhile, Norbu’s recent pledges align him ever closer with Beijing’s official line. His role, observers say, is to lend a religious veneer to the state’s authority in Tibet while playing a key part in Beijing’s push to shape the future of Tibetan Buddhism according to the Communist Party’s priorities.
One Response
The Chinese communists have illegally occupied Tibet with military might. They have no right whatsoever to occupy Tibet but because they are a ruthless terrorist organisation, they have imposed their rule through the gun! The Tibetan people including the Dalai Lama never accepted and will never accept Chinese propaganda that “Tibet is part of China”! Just as Taiwan was under Japanese rule for half a century yet it was never recognised as part of Japan, Chinese occupation of Tibet is the same. Its rule in occupied Tibet is illegitimate because it doesn’t represent the people of Tibet. It is imposed by the threat of wholesale murder! TIBET IS UNDER THE JACKBOOT OF COMMUNIST CHINA!
The recent meeting of the Chinese appointed fake Panchen Gyaltsen Norbu is nothing but a puppet and an imposter at the hand of the CCP. No Tibetan Lama worth his salt would ever say, Tibetan Buddhism should be sinicised! Tibetan Buddhism prides in tracing its origin to Indian masters of Nalanda! China has nothing to do with Tibetan Buddhism. TIBETAN TRANSLATORS SUCH AS LOTSAWA KALPA PALTSEK, CHOKRO LUYIGYALTSEN, SHANG YESHE DE, MARPA AND CHAK LOTSAWA HAVE PAINSTAKINGLY TRANSLATED FROM SANSKRIT INTO TIBETAN AND THE TIBETAN EMPERORS HAVE DECREED THAT IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE THE ORIGINALITY OF THE TEXTS, EVERY TRANSLATION SHOULD BEAR THE HEADING རྒྱ་གར་སྐད་དུ་ RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY BUDDHIST TEXT TRANSLATED FROM INDIAN LANGUAGE. So, it should be kept as it is for its originality and NOT TEMPERED WITH BY ANYBODY FOR ANY REASON. THESE ARE TIME TESTED AND THROUGHLY SCRUTINISED FOR THEIR AUTHENTICITY BY INDIAN PANDITS AND TIBETAN TRANSLATORS. NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TEMPER WITH THEM WHICH WOULD COMPROMISE THEIR SANCTITY AND QUESTION THEIR ORIGINALITY. The very fact Gyaltsen Norbu was made to utter such blasphemous words has only proved the CCP’s grand design to destroy Tibetan Buddhism so Tibetans lose the very basis of their cultural identity. The evil terrorist CCP vandalised every monastery, libraries, stupas and millions of statues to annihilate Tibetan spiritual foundation. More than 6000 monasteries were ransacked, pillaged and razed to the ground in a frenzy of communist bigotry. Like leopards never change their spots, the CCP’s end game is to eradicate Tibetan Buddhism and with it Tibetan people’s NATIONAL IDENTITY! Its ultimate goal is to transform every Tibetan into Chinese! Gyaltsen Norbu is used as the pawn to fulfil the ultimate aim of the monstrous CCP. In future, they will use the dummy “Dalai Lama” just as they are using Gyaltsen Norbu. In true Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Panchens and Dalai Lamas are the protector and propagator of the holy Dharma. They are the ones who makes every decision concerning the Dharma and nobody else has any right to interfere in their decisions. Every one respects the decrees of the High Lamas in every denomination of religion because they are the ultimate authority. However, today, under Chinese illegal occupation, the occupier who prides in being infidel is putting its evil hands over the matters of religion which is anathema to them! There is nothing more shocking than infidels dabbling with religious matters! So, the Chinese communist infidels are trashing every protocol, historical precedence and time tested traditions through the window and trying to establish its illegal interference even on holy matters which are entirely matters for the clergy and not sinners like the CCP. Tibetans must realise that it is impossible for the holy Dharma to survive under Chinese communist rule! This is because the communists detest religion and they seek to destroy it by any means! The one million children who have been forcibly taken from their homes have been denied access to monasteries, monks and even their parents. They are indoctrinated into communist ideology and taught to hate their own culture as backward and uncivilised! Every Chinese born in China will tell you that the CCP system teaches children WHAT TO THINK AND WHAT NOT TO THINK. Those Chinese who are now in the west clearly tell you that the CCP DOES NOT LET YOU THINK ON YOUR OWN BUT TELLS YOU WHAT TO THINK!!! IT IS BRAINWASHING AND NOT AN EDUCATION! THATS WHY ALL CHINESE BORN IN COMMUNIST CHINA ARE LIKE ROBOTS! The system has throughly brainwashed them. They are taught to hate Japan and told that all western countries were out there to destroy communist China so, they must unite under the CCP because so they are told, without the CCP China is nothing, the people are nothing!