25 April 2025 marks the 36th birthday of the Panchen Lama, who has remained under continued detention by Chinese authorities since 1995, only for being recognized by the Dalai Lama as a prominent Tibetan Buddhist master. His situation concretely symbolizes China\u2019s abuse of Tibetan religious freedom and tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, was born in Chinese-occupied Tibet on 25 April 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 17 May 1995, three days after he was recognized by the Dalai Lama, at age 6, Chinese authorities kidnapped him and his parents. The Panchen Lama has not been seen since, a clear violation of China\u2019s own constitution. Article 37 of the Chinese Constitution says, \u201cUnlawful detention, or the unlawful deprivation or restriction of a citizen\u2019s personal freedom by other means, is prohibited.\u201d The International Campaign for Tibet reiterates its demands that China allow the Panchen Lama, who is an adult, to exercise this right and release him so that he can take his rightful place at the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the traditional home of the Panchen Lama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ICT also calls on the governments and the international community, to press China to account for the Panchen Lama\u2019s whereabouts and well-being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After kidnapping the Panchen Lama, the atheist Chinese Communist Party selected another boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, as Panchen Lama. Today, Norbu is being made to serve Beijing as a mouthpiece and political agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The continued disappearance of the Panchen Lama is emblematic of China\u2019s repressive control of Tibet, which has led to executions, torture, imprisonment, the destruction of religious institutions, political indoctrination, the expulsion of monks and nuns from monasteries and nunneries, the banning of religious ceremonies, restrictions on the numbers of monks in monasteries and the extreme disruption of the religious practices of average Tibetans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s attitude toward the detained Panchen Lama clearly shows that its claim of respecting religious freedom in Tibet\u2014a historically independent country that China has occupied and ruled with an iron fist for the past 60 years\u2014is aimed solely at serving its political goal of controlling Tibetan Buddhism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chinese authorities have realized that Tibetan Buddhism is the core of Tibetan identity, and the attempt is to alter this identity to comply with their CCP goals. Thus, Sinification serves to make Tibetan Buddhism conform to the CCP ideology and be an active agent of its promotion and implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Chinese authorities really believe that everything is fine in Tibet today and the Tibetan people are happy living under Chinese rule, they should have the courage to free the Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and let him return to his people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
25 April 2025 marks the 36th birthday of the Panchen Lama, who has remained under continued detention by Chinese authorities since 1995, only for being recognized by the Dalai Lama as a prominent Tibetan Buddhist master. His situation concretely symbolizes China\u2019s abuse of Tibetan religious freedom and tradition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12766,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[691],"news_tag":[709],"class_list":["post-13118","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-news","news_tag-political-prisoners"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n