China's Panchen Lama Pledges Loyalty to the Communist Party in a Meeting with Xi
Xinhua via AP
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama, presents a hada to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing on Friday, June 6, 2025.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The man picked by Beijing as the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism pledged adherence to the ruling Communist Party's dictates Friday during a rare face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, state media reported.
Gyaltsen Norbu, who is rarely seen in public, met behind closed doors with Xi Jinping in Zhongnanhai, the government compound in the center of Beijing, about 3,700 kilometers (about 2,300 miles) from his home monastery of Tashilhumpo, high on the Tibetan steppe.
Gyaltsen Norbu, 35, said he would 'firmly support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and resolutely safeguard the unity of the motherland and national unity,' the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Chinese government appointed Gyaltsen Norbu as the Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism in 1995 at age 5 after followers of the Dalai Lama recognized a different boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Panchen's incarnation.
That boy and his family disappeared in 1995 in what the U.S. government has alleged was an abduction by the Chinese government, and the Dalai Lama, 89, has refused to recognize the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama.
The Chinese government says Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is now a college graduate living a private life and working at a stable job, while producing no evidence.
The Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama was quoted Friday by Xinhua as saying that he would 'contribute to promoting national unity and progress, systematically promote the sinicization of religion in China, and promote the modernization of Tibet.'
Xi's government uses the term 'sinicization' to mean that all religions including Christianity and Islam must take their orders from the Communist Party, reduce their non-Chinese aspects and limit their role in society.
Xi was quoted as telling the Chinese government's Panchen that he should continue Tibetan Buddhism's 'strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, systematically advancing the sinicization of religion in China, and promoting the modernization of Tibet.'
Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement marking the 30th anniversary of the disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, saying he and his family had been abducted by the Chinese government.
'Chinese authorities should release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima immediately and stop persecuting Tibetans for their religious beliefs,' Rubio's statement read.
The position of Panchen Lama is especially sensitive since he is expected to take part in the recognition of a new Dalai Lama and serve as his tutor, a religious process that the officially atheist Communist Party is determined to control.
The meeting Friday also reflected Xi's focus on economic and political stability within China's borders, where an economic slump has raised concerns of anti-government outbursts and control over minority groups is an overwhelming obsession.
China claims Tibet has been part of China for centuries, but many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for much of that time and that Beijing is now seeking to destroy their human rights, language and Buddhist culture.
The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese forces and has long been vilified by Beijing as a separatist. The government denies his traditional right to recognize reincarnated lamas.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
13 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
China's top legislature proposes sealing all records of minor offenses
Caixin Move aims to address lifelong stigma that could impact school admissions and employment Previous drafts of the law's revision already introduced a sealing mechanism for minors' violation records. The latest draft takes a significant further step by extending the protection to China's entire population. © Reuters SHAN YUXIAO, Caixin China is advancing a landmark proposal to seal the records of minor public security violations for all individuals, a move that could remove significant barriers to education and employment for millions each year. A third-reading draft of the revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law stipulates that records of such violations 'shall be sealed' and not disclosed to any organization or individual. Exceptions would be made for national security agencies conducting investigations or for other authorized units making inquiries based on state regulations, according to state media agency Xinhua.
The Mainichi
14 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Trump says he's terminating trade talks with Canada over tax on tech firms
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Friday that he's suspending trade talks with Canada over its plans to continue with its tax on technology firms, which he called "a direct and blatant attack on our country." Trump, in a post on his social media network, said Canada had just informed the U.S. that it was sticking to its plan to impose the digital services tax, which applies to Canadian and foreign businesses that engage with online users in Canada. The tax is set to go into effect Monday. "Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period," Trump said in his post. Trump's announcement was the latest swerve in the trade war he's launched since taking office for a second term in January. Progress with Canada has been a roller coaster, starting with the U.S. president poking at the nation's northern neighbor and repeatedly suggesting it would be absorbed as a U.S. state. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that his country would "continue to conduct these complex negotiations in the best interests of Canadians. It's a negotiation." Trump later said he expects that Canada will remove the tax. "Economically we have such power over Canada. We'd rather not use it," Trump said in the Oval Office. "It's not going to work out well for Canada. They were foolish to do it." When asked if Canada could do anything to restart talks, he suggested Canada could remove the tax, predicted it will but said, "It doesn't matter to me." Carney visited Trump in May at the White House, where he was polite but firm. Trump last week traveled to Canada for the G7 summit in Alberta, where Carney said that Canada and the U.S. had set a 30-day deadline for trade talks. The digital services tax will hit companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb with a 3% levy on revenue from Canadian users. It will apply retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2 billion U.S. bill due at the end of the month. "We appreciate the Administration's decisive response to Canada's discriminatory tax on U.S. digital exports," Matt Schruers, chief executive of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said in a statement. Canada and the U.S. have been discussing easing a series of steep tariffs Trump imposed on goods from America's neighbor. The Republican president earlier told reporters that the U.S. was soon preparing to send letters to different countries, informing them of the new tariff rate his administration would impose on them. Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as 25% tariffs on autos. He is also charging a 10% tax on imports from most countries, though he could raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period he set would expire. Canada and Mexico face separate tariffs of as much as 25% that Trump put into place under the auspices of stopping fentanyl smuggling, though some products are still protected under the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed during Trump's first term. Addressing reporters after a private meeting with Republican senators Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to comment on news that Trump had ended trade talks with Canada. "I was in the meeting," Bessent said before moving on to the next question. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports as well. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager to obtain. About 80% of Canada's exports go to the U.S. Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said it is a domestic tax issue, but it has been a source of tensions between Canada and the United States for a while because it targets U.S. tech giants. "The Digital Services Tax Act was signed into law a year ago so the advent of this new tax has been known for a long time," Beland said. "Yet, President Trump waited just before its implementation to create drama over it in the context of ongoing and highly uncertain trade negotiations between the two countries."
The Mainichi
15 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Dalai Lama to turn 90 amid succession argument between Tibet, China
DHARAMSALA, India (Kyodo) -- With the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader, soon to turn 90, the issue of how to identify his successor, traditionally viewed as his reincarnation, is a key issue facing Tibet's government-in-exile and China, which took control of the Himalayan region more than 70 years ago. While China has claimed the sole authority to determine the successor, the current 14th Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959, has warned that Tibetans will not respect anyone chosen as his reincarnation by the country they see as having invaded their homeland. Amid speculation that the Dalai Lama could identify his successor while still alive, potentially through a process of recognition based on "karmic" connection, the president of the Tibetan government-in-exile has told Kyodo News that selection after the spiritual leader's demise on the basis of reincarnation remains the more likely scenario. "I cannot say for sure, but what we have listened to (from) His Holiness and what has been going around so far indicate (the successor's selection would) more likely (be) by reincarnation" than by identification by the spiritual leader, Penpa Tsering said in a recent interview in Dharamsala, northern India. Dalai Lama has also said in the past that his successor could be a woman. Tsering said the Dalai Lama will make an announcement in a video message at a meeting of representatives of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries on July 2, four days before he turns 90, although he said he did not know whether the succession issue would be touched on. Turning to China, Tsering said the key issue for Chinese government officials is selecting a new Dalai Lama "to fulfill their political needs." The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, assumed the role in 1950 after being identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was 2 years old. He exiled himself to India soon after the failed Tibetan uprising against China's imposition of control in 1959. He later established a government-in-exile in Dharamsala. China considers the current Dalai Lama as a separatist who aims to break Tibet away from China. He, however, has insisted he is seeking autonomy for Tibet, with steps to preserve its religion, culture and language. In 1989, the Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating peaceful solutions to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of the Tibetan people. Formal talks between Tibet and China were last held in 2010. Tsering, the second president of the government-in-exile who took office in 2021, said the two sides have since only used unofficial channels to communicate. He said he believes that China's policy on Tibet and other ethnic minorities revolves around "eliminating the identity of the nationalities" of the ethnic groups. "That's why they are striking the very root of every nationality's identity, including Tibetan, by having this colonial style -- holding schools where a lot of restrictions are imposed on teaching the native language," he added. Tsering was recently on a month-long tour to officially visit the United States, Canada and Japan to discuss the Tibetan cause. While Dalai Lama had a knee surgery in the United States in June last year, Tsering said the spiritual leader is in good health. "His Holiness keeps saying 'I will live for two decades (from now) and more and live up to 113 years of age,'" Tsering said. "There are also prophecies that he will live very long." (By Rini Dutta)
