(TibetanReview.net, Oct11’26) – The Chinese government-appointed Panchen Lama Gyaltsen Norbu has on Sep 30 called for all religious and other work in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) to remain aligned with the overall work of the Party and the Party-state, including with the recently enacted Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law. The law is condemned in the outside world as a tool for the Sinicization and assimilation of Tibet.
Presiding over a meeting of the TAR branch of the Buddhist Association of China, Gyaltsen Norbu called for in-depth study and publicity regarding relevant laws and regulations, including the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law and TAR’s regulations on religious affairs, to ensure that all work will remain aligned with the overall work of the Party and the country, reported China’s state news agency Xinhua Oct 10.
The event took place in Shigatse City where he also presided over the 5th council meeting and a chairperson’s office meeting of the Shigatse Development Fund. In addition, he attended events hosted by the fund, the report said.
The report said that after he arrived in Tibet’s capital Lhasa by air from his state-assigned home in Beijing on Jul 30, Gyaltsen Norbu travelled by road to Shigatse, home to Tashilhunpo Monastery, the traditional seat of the successive Panchen Lamas, on Aug 24.
While in Shigatse, he was stated to have “carried out a series of religious activities and visited Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Kangmar, Sagya, Xaitongmoin, and Bainang counties, and Sangzhuzi District, to pay homage to the Buddha, expound Buddhist teachings and conduct relevant social research.”
On Sep 17, he has visited a quinoa planting and processing base in Sagya County and inspected quinoa growth in the fields. Quinoa was first grown in Tibet in 1988, when the Tibet Agriculture and Animal Husbandry University introduced three varieties from Bolivia.
The 10th Panchen Lama brought quinoa seeds presented to him as a gift from Bolivia following a visit there in 1985, which eventually catalyzed research and cultivation trials in the region, China’s official chinadaily.com.cn previously reported Oct 8, 2021.