In May 1995, soon after the Dalai Lama recognized him as the eleventh Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his parents were kidnapped by Chinese authorities. He was six years old. He hasn’t been seen since, which means he’s either dead or in some form of prison.
The Chinese government has said that the family is being held in an undisclosed location out of concern for their safety.
The CCP Panchen Lama
The real motive of the abduction was to undermine Tibet and its leadership and exert greater control over Tibetan Buddhism.
Shortly after China removed the Panchen Lama from the scene, officials appointed a substitute Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu (shown above), a personage more acceptable to the Chinese government but not acceptable to the Dalai Lama or many Tibetan Buddhists.
According to Tsering Tsomo, director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, based in India, appearances of the CCP-appointed Panchen Lama, including visits to monasteries, “are choreographed under the direct supervision of the Chinese government, and whatever Norbu says or does is aimed only at advancing the agenda of China’s ruling Communist Party. He acts only as a spokesperson.”
A Panchen Lama is thought to be a reincarnated lama. According to Britannica, each Panchen Lama “heads the influential Tashilhunpo Monastery (near Shigatse) and until recent times was second only to the Dalai Lama in spiritual authority within the dominant Dge-lugs-pa sect of Tibetan Buddhism.”
The thirtieth anniversary of the abduction of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has been the occasion for renewed attention to his plight and calls for his release, including by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
CTA statement
The Central Tibetan Administration, an organization formed by Tibetans in exile dedicated to “restoring freedom for Tibetans,” issued the following statement:
“On this day, May 14, 1995, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama officially recognised six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet. Merely three days later, on May 17, 11th Panchen Lama and his parents were taken into custody by Chinese authorities and vanished from public view. The Chinese government later confirmed they were being held in an undisclosed location, citing concerns for their safety. Yet, for the past 30 years, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s whereabouts and condition have remained unknown, making him one of the world’s longest-standing cases of enforced disappearance.”
In the early 1950s, China began occupying and trying to incorporate Tibet into China. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, fled in 1959 in the wake of a failed uprising against the occupation. Now 89, he lives in exile in India.
China has made clear that when he dies, it expects to appoint his successor.
China’s foreign ministry has said: “Reincarnations of the living Buddha, including the Dalai Lama, should abide by the regulations of the country.”
Also see:
Radio Free Asia: “China’s Panchen Lama Ignored by Tibetans Told to Show Devotion” (July 26, 2021)
