Panchen Lama: The boy chosen as a Tibetan spiritual figure disappeared in 1995. China says he graduated from college with a job

By installing your own options as Panchen Lama and disappeared Gedhun Choekyi NyimaChina has avoided him becoming another opposition figure in the form of the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since escaping from Beijing-controlled Tibet in 1959 and is regularly criticized by Chinese authorities and blamed for Tibetan unrest in China. Since becoming an adult, Gyancain Norbu has assumed an increasingly well-known role, joining China’s top political body and frequently appearing at important events in Beijing.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also condemned the “Chinese persecution” of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and called on Beijing to “announce the existence of the Panchen Lama” and respect Tibetan religious freedom.

The most important goal of the Panchen Lama from the perspective of Beijing is the role he traditionally played in identifying the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, who was worshiped as a living god by Tibetan Buddhists. With current title holder Tenzin Gyatso, now 84, there is a strong chance that a successor will be needed sooner than later.

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama now says his successor can be found outside of Tibet, and also suggests he might not be reincarnated at all, making him the last person to hold the title. In recent years, he has moved to secularize the Tibetan government in exile, surrendering non-religious authority to political figures, in stark contrast to the theocratic societies that had ruled Tibet in the foresee by his predecessors.

“It is a fact that no one else can force the person concerned, or manipulate him,” the Dalai Lama said. “It is very inappropriate for Chinese communists, who explicitly reject even the ideas of past and future life, let alone the concept of Tulkus reincarnation, to interfere in the reincarnation system and especially the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama.”