A teenage boy being groomed by China to become the new Tibetan religious leader has been allowed to meet tens of thousands of people in a rare trip, state media said on Wednesday.
The 11th Panchen Lama, who is rarely seen in public, held head-touching ceremonies to bless more than 60 000 believers during a trip to Tibetan-inhabited areas of southwest China’s Sichuan province from June 12 to 28, the Xinhua news agency said.
The trip, which was broadcast on state television, could be a sign that the government believes the boy, who has been under the Chinese government’s strict tutelage since he was five, is now ready for a more public role.
The news agency referred to the boy as ”the highest leader of Tibetan Buddhism in China” — which reflects the government’s attempt to use the boy to rival the role of the exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama.
Under Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama ranks above the Panchen Lama.
Media reports said the boy was ”warmly greeted” by believers.
The visit was the first by the teenager to Sichuan, where the second largest population of Tibetans live, outside of the restive Tibet region.
The thousands of believers who congregated to see the Beijing-picked Panchen Lama not only received head-touching ceremonies but also got the Panchen’s portrait, badges and red diamond knots touched by him, Xinhua said.
The teenager toured dozens of counties of Sichuan and held religious rituals in more than 10 Tibetan Buddhism temples there, Xinhua said.
The teenager is widely seen as a Beijing puppet. He was chosen by the atheist Chinese regime in 1995, when he was five, as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama.
The Dalai Lama’s own choice, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, disappeared from public view in 1995 and is believed to have been under a form of house arrest ever since.
China has occupied Tibet since 1950. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. – Sapa-AFP