(TibetanReview.net, Feb24’22) – Extending greetings for the Tibetan New Year, which falls on Mar 3 this time, senior Communist Party of China (CPC) leader Mr You Quan has on 23 met with Gyaltsen Norbu, China’s replacement 11th Panchen Lama, in Beijing, and reminded him of his duty to help Sinicize Tibetan Buddhism.
Recognizing the progress the “Panchen Lama” had made in various aspects, You encouraged Gyaltsen Norbu to thoroughly study the historical experience the Party had gained over the past century and play a more active role in adapting Tibetan Buddhism to the Chinese context, China’s official Xinhua news agency Feb 23 cited You as saying.
You, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, was stated to have extended Tibetan New Year greetings to the “Panchen Lama” and all Tibetan Buddhism believers.
On his part, Gyaltsen Norbu, whose installation as the “11th Panchen Lama” followed China’s kidnap and disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama recognized by Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in 1995, has said he would firmly support the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and safeguard national unity and ethnic solidarity.
He has also said that he would uphold the principle that Tibetan Buddhism must be Chinese in orientation and make new achievements in promoting the adaptation of the religion to socialist society.