\u201cHe\u201d is China\u2019s handpicked Panchen Lama, the second-most important religious figure in Tibetan Buddhism, and despite his formidable rank, his presence is not universally welcomed by the faithful in and around the white-wall Labrang Monastery that sprawls into a cavernous valley here.<\/p>\n
The main problem is that this Panchen Lama, 21, is one of two young men with claims to the title. The one chosen by Communist Party officials in 1995, named Gyaltsen Norbu at birth, is often referred to by local residents as the \u201cChinese Panchen Lama.\u201d The other is Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who would now be 22, a herder\u2019s son who was anointed that same year by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.<\/p>\n
Most Tibetans are still loyal to the memory of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, even if he has been missing since Chinese authorities swept him and his family into \u201cprotective custody\u201d more than 16 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just hope he is still alive,\u201d said Tsering Woeser, a Tibetan essayist and blogger who noted that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima\u2019s visage, frozen as a 5-year-old, hangs in many homes and temples. \u201cWe are waiting for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Gyaltsen Norbu moves from adolescence to adulthood, Chinese authorities are facing a quandary over how to burnish his bona fides: his standing will continue to suffer if he remains apart from Tibetan monks and the faithful, but officials risk inflaming passions by foisting him on a community that remains deeply suspicious.<\/p>\n
In recent years, the Communist Party has tried other means to raise his profile. They named him vice president of the state-run Buddhist association and appointed him to the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body that meets annually in Beijing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The new Tibetan Prime Minister will assume office on Monday and Lobsang Sangay has given more indication on his position versus the Chinese government. From Voice of America: The newly-elected Tibetan prime minister-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, says he will use his tenure in office to continue pressing China for negotiations aimed at resolving the decades-long dispute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[116,100,5],"tags":[14668,2981,69],"class_list":["post-123066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","category-politics","category-society","tag-lobsang-sangay","tag-panchen-lama","tag-tibet","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
New Tibetan PM Vows to Continue Pressing China on Autonomy<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n