Hong Kong
CNN
–
The young Tibetans, controversial by the Chinese atheist Communist Party as the second-highest spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, have pledged to make their religion more Chinese.
Gyaltsen Norbu was established by Beijing as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, and Dalai Lama, the highest authority in religion, had the role choice – a six-year-old boy – disappeared from public places afterwards. China has yet to disclose information about the missing boy’s location.
The Beijing appointed Panchen Lama is dismissed as a con man by his home and many Tibetans in exile, but he is often quoted in Chinese state media, which links the Communist Party’s boundaries, and praises policy in Tibet.
In a rare meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, Galtzen Norb vowed to make his own contribution to promoting ethnic unity and systematically promoting “sinicization of religion,” the state communications agency reported.
The statement aims to spur the drastic campaign unleashed by XI to spur the religious beliefs of foreign influences and to more closely align with traditional Chinese culture with the authoritarian rule of the atheist Communist Party.
According to Xinhua, Gyaltsen Norbu also kept his teachings in mind, pledging to firmly support the party leaders and secure protection of national unity and ethnic solidarity.
Xi told him to advance the “patriotic and religious traditions” of Tibetan Buddhism, Xinhua reported that he would contribute to the development of a “strong community of the Chinese state.”
The conference comes in the 30th year of the Dalai Lama’s loss of disappearance, when it was appointed as the Panchen Lama.
After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama of the second most important person in Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama named him the reincarnation of Tibetan child Gedung Choki Nima and his colleagues.
However, three days after he was elected, according to the US government, Gedun and his family were vanished by the Communist Party and appointed an alternative Panchen Rama. Since then, Gedun has not been seen in public places.
In a statement showing the anniversary, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Chinese authorities of “adjusting” him and his family. He called on Beijing to immediately release Gedhun Choekyi nyima and “stop persecuting Tibetans because of their religious beliefs.”
In 2020, the Chinese government publicly acknowledged Gedung Choki Nima’s fate for the first time, describing him as a “working university graduate,” and neither he nor his family wanted to be in the way of “normal life now.”
Meanwhile, Gyaltsen Norbu has become an adult, joined China’s top political organisations, appeared in important events in Beijing, and has been an increasingly popular role as he often meets large crowds in China’s Tibetan region.
The contested appointment of the Panchen Lama is widely seen by experts and the Tibetan exile community. It is a Beijing attempt to pave the way for exiles of the Dalai Lama, who had lived in exiles since fleeing to India after the Tibetan uprising against Communist rule in 1959.
For decades, the Dalai Lama was a permanent thorn on Beijing’s side, and he ordered the loyalty of many Tibetan people to the exile and continued to maintain the struggle for greater autonomy on the world stage. Chinese officials have denounced the Nobel Peace Prize winner as “separatists” and “wolves in the robe of the monk.”
The Dalai Lama has said it will release details about his succession on his 90th birthday in July. In his latest book, “Voice for the Moiceless,” the Dalai Lama said he was born in the “free world” his successor described outside China.
Beijing claimed to choose his successor and reincarnation of all Tibetan Buddhist llamas, but the Dalai Lama and his supporters said that successors named from China would not be respected.