46. China promotes its Panchen Lama as new Tibetan leader

AFP - Wednesday, December 21, 2005

BEIJING - China is raising the profile of a teenage boy it selected as the 11th Panchen Lama, allowing him to perform a ceremony attended by thousands of worshippers, state media reports revealed. Beijing chose Gyaincain Norbu when he was six years old to be the 11th Panchen Lama, the second highest spiritual leader in Tibet, after rejecting another boy picked by the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Now 15, Gyaincain Norbu, who was rarely seen in public before, was shown on China's state television earlier this month blessing worshippers in a ceremony marking his enthronement at the Panchen Lama's residence. On Sunday, just 10 days after the enthronement ceremony, Gyaincain Norbu held another "head-touching" ritual to bless lamas and other Buddhists in the residence, the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse city, the Xinhua news agency said. The ceremony lasted four hours and was attended by more than 10,000 Tibetans and other Buddhists from neighboring provinces, it said. "This was the first time the 16-year-old Panchen Lama has blessed such a large number of people at one time at his residence over the past decade," Xinhua said. "The past decade witnessed Gyaincain Norbu grow up from a child to the leader of Tibetan Buddhism." In further indication Beijing is trying to strengthen the legitimacy of the youngster, Xinhua said the ceremony was attended by devoted Tibetans, including mothers with babies and young men carrying their elderly fathers or mothers on their backs, who viewed Gyaincain Norbu as their new spiritual leader. Xinhua quoted Dianzin, an 84-year-old man who once was blessed by the ninth and the 10th Panchen Lamas, as recognizing Gyaincain Norbu as the legitimate Panchen Lama. "It is my great honor to receive the blessing from a third Panchen Lama today," said Dianzin, according to Xinhua. China appears to consider the boy, who has been under Beijing's tutelage, as ready to play a more high-profile role. The Dalai Lama, exiled in India, is considered by Tibetans as the highest spiritual leader. Beijing however considers him a dangerous separatist and views him with deep suspicion. The Dalai Lama has frequently angered Beijing by meeting with other countries' leaders in his efforts to fight for more autonomy for Tibetans, who have been ruled by the Chinese for about half a century. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a boy chosen by the Dalai Lama to be the Panchen Lama, is believed to have been under house arrest by China since 1995.