Abduction of the Panchen Lama by China 30 years ago (May 17)

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the abduction of the Tibetan Panchen Lama, his family, and his teacher (May 17, 1995), the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls on the German Federal Government to do more to secure his release. “Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was six years old when the Chinese government had him abducted. What he is doing, where he lives, or whether he is even alive… only the Chinese government knows that,” stated Hanno Schedler, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. For the Tibetan people, the Panchen Lama is the second highest spiritual authority – second only to the Dalai Lama. The UN Committee for Children’s Rights and the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances have repeatedly but unsuccessfully appealed to the Chinese government to provide information on the whereabouts of the now 36-year-old.

“The case of the Panchen Lama is just one example of the Chinese government’s efforts to bring Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan people under its control. Enforced disappearances, religious persecution, and the destruction of monasteries, the suppression of the Tibetan language, family separations, and mandatory boarding schools for Tibetan children are to be seen as the most serious crimes against humanity,” Schedler emphasized. “Further, the Chinese government is trying to convince other states to stop using the word ‘Tibet’ and to adopt the Chinese term ‘Xizang’ – which, however, only stands for the area of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region, as established by the Chinese government, and not the entire Tibetan Plateau. This renaming is part of a plan to erase the independent identity, culture, and history of the Tibetans – an attempt to create the impression that the country has always been part of China, which isn’t true. Thus, the term ‘Tibet’ should consistently be used by foreign governments,” Schedler demanded.

Following the abduction of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima 30 years ago, the Chinese government installed a boy named Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama. The son of communist functionaries serves as a puppet to give the impression of religious freedom in China, and he is celebrated as ‘the leader of Tibetan Buddhism’ in state-run media. Further, the Chinese government is systematically preparing for the death of the 14th Dalai Lama, who will turn 90 this year. The aim is to install a successor who will follow Beijing’s official line and spread the Chinese government’s false narrative about the devastating human rights situation in Tibet. To achieve this, the CPC will try to use the appointed Panchen Lama to install a new Dalai Lama who is loyal to Beijing. Further, Beijing has already declared reincarnations in Tibetan Buddhism as a state affair: they would only be permitted after recognition by the state authorities. In his most recent book, the Dalai Lama, who will turn 90 this year, explained that his successor will be born outside of China.