China Poses a Rival to the Dalai Lama

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7973684.stm

From the article:

China has pushed a young bespectacled monk into the spotlight in an effort to show that it governs Tibet with a benign hand.

Although he is only 19, the Panchen Lama has already stepped onto the public stage to praise the Chinese Communist Party.

Tibet expert Professor Robert Barnett, of New York's Columbia University, says this is part of China's efforts to undermine the appeal of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism.

"He will never really replace the Dalai Lama, but his role confuses the picture and can gradually be used to weaken the Dalai Lama's standing," he said.

"I think [China's] Panchen Lama is being built up very gradually as a public spokesman within the Tibetan Buddhist world."

The Dalai Lama's choice of Panchen Lama - a young boy called Gedhun Choekyi Nyima - was rejected by China, and disappeared soon afterwards.

China's choice, Gyaincain Norbu, has been largely kept from public view since his appointment at the age of five.

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