Tibet's Panchen Lama meets President Xi Jinping, pledges loyalty to Communist Party

Beijing, Jun 6 (PTI) China-appointed Panchen Lama, the second most important Buddhist monk in Tibet after the Dalai Lama, on Friday met President Xi Jinping here and swore his loyalty to the ruling Communist Party.

Meeting the Panchen Lama, Xi asked him to make greater contributions to promoting ethnic unity and religious harmony, as well as the stability, development and progress in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Xi also asked him to make continued efforts to promote the “sinicisation of religion”, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

Since he came to power in 2012, Xi has been calling for “sinicisation” of all religions in the country, including Buddhism and Islam, to reorient them to function under the guidance of the CPC, which ideologically remains atheist.

The 35-year-old Panchen Lama was appointed by China at the age of 5 in 1995 after ousting the Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was appointed as the 11th Panchen Lama by Dalai Lama.

Amid criticism from the US, China later said Nyima was a college graduate working a stable job but he was never produced in public.

Xi met the Panchen Lama ahead of the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday next month. Earlier, the Dalai Lama indicated he may reveal his preferred method for choosing a successor.

China has been saying that any successor to the Dalai Lama should have its official endorsement.

The Panchen Lama, who resides in Shigatse, the Tibetan town close to Arunachal Pradesh border, is being reportedly groomed by China to succeed Dalai Lama, who lives in exile at Dharamsala. Xi expressed hope that the Panchen Lama would “work hard to become a Tibetan living Buddha with profound knowledge of Buddhism, beloved by monks and lay followers, and take the lead in obeying the law and adhering to the precepts”.

The Panchen Lama is the second-highest spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

For his part, the Panchen Lama pledged to play a role in “strengthening the sense of community for the Chinese nation”, “systematically advancing the sinicisation of religion in China” and “promoting the modernisation of Tibet”.

He said he would also “keep in mind the earnest teachings” of Xi and “firmly support the leadership”, the Post report said. PTI KJV GSP GSP