{"id":13316,"date":"2026-05-15T18:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/?post_type=nieuws&p=13316"},"modified":"2026-05-15T18:33:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:33:01","slug":"after-31-years-china-continues-to-hide-the-panchen-lama-from-the-world","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/after-31-years-china-continues-to-hide-the-panchen-lama-from-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"After 31 years, China continues to hide the Panchen Lama from the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 17 May 1995, Chinese authorities kidnapped a six-year-old Tibetan boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, just days after His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognized him as the reincarnated Panchen Lama, one of Tibetan Buddhism\u2019s most important leaders. While Tibetans in exile\u202fcelebrated the Panchen Lama\u2019s 37th birthday last month<\/a>, neither he nor his parents have been seen in public since China abducted them in 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the eve of the 31st anniversary of this egregious injustice, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and Tibetans, Tibetan Buddhists and Tibet supporters around the world demand that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) account for the Panchen Lama\u2019s whereabouts, release him immediately, and restore to him the rights and freedoms to which he is entitled under China\u2019s laws and its international commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn 17 May, we mark a tragic day in Tibetan history, when the Chinese government stole a venerated religious leader \u2013 a six-year-old boy \u2013 from us. The CCP continues to hold him and his family to this day,\u201d said ICT President Tencho Gyatso. \u201cWe implore President Trump, Secretary Rubio and other international leaders to tell President Xi and other Chinese officials to immediately release the Panchen Lama and end their interference in Tibetan cultural and religious practices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CCP\u2019s refusal to provide information about the Panchen Lama\u2019s whereabouts is another component of its ongoing campaign of repression and cultural assimilation in Tibet. The CCP\u2019s 1995 abduction of the Panchen Lama was its first move to implement its plan to interfere in the succession of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Beijing\u2019s continued enforced disappearance of the Panchen Lama is a key component of those accelerating efforts. After kidnapping Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Chinese authorities appointed another Tibetan boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, to serve in his role, which Tibetans and the international community have wholly rejected. ICT and the international community expect Beijing to deploy a similar tactic to try to interfere with Tibetans\u2019 selection of the 15th Dalai Lama when the time comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, the enactment of the \u201cEthnic Unity and Progress Law<\/a>,\u201d which enters into force on 1 July, and the PRC\u2019s 15th Five-Year Plan<\/a> are the latest moves by the CCP to sever China\u2019s domestic and international human rights commitments and to accelerate the destruction of Tibet\u2019s unique linguistic, religious and cultural heritage. China has illegally occupied Tibet, a\u202fhistorically independent country, for over 60 years. The CCP has refused to negotiate with Tibetan leaders on a lasting agreement about Tibet\u2019s status since 2010. Chinese authorities have also refused to let His Holiness the\u202fDalai Lama\u2014the spiritual leader of\u202fTibetan Buddhism\u202fand\u202fone of the most admired figures in the world\u2014return home to Tibet in the nearly seven decades since they\u202fforced him into exile\u202fin 1959.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Support Tibetans in their struggle for freedom by donating here<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 17 May 1995, Chinese authorities kidnapped a six-year-old Tibetan boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, just days after His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognized him as the reincarnated Panchen Lama, one of Tibetan Buddhism\u2019s most important leaders. While Tibetans in exile\u202fcelebrated the Panchen Lama\u2019s 37th birthday last month, neither he nor his parents have been seen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13317,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[],"news_tag":[347],"class_list":["post-13316","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_tag-panchen-lama"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAfter 31 years, China continues to hide the Panchen Lama from the world - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/after-31-years-china-continues-to-hide-the-panchen-lama-from-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After 31 years, China continues to hide the Panchen Lama from the world - Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On 17 May 1995, Chinese authorities kidnapped a six-year-old Tibetan boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, just days after His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognized him as the reincarnated Panchen Lama, one of Tibetan Buddhism\u2019s most important leaders. 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