(TibetanReview.net, Dec12’24) –It now appears certain that Gyaincain Norbu, the Sinicized version of the 11th Panchen Lama, who would otherwise be Tibet’s second most prominent religious figure, is visiting Nepal to take part in a Chinese-organized Buddhist conference from Dec 12 to 17 or thereabouts. The kathmandupost.com Dec 12 cited Nepal’s foreign minister and the Chinese embassy as categorically denying that the visit will take place. However, other media reports in Nepal make it clear that Gyaincain Norbu will arrive in the country very soon.
Norbu is set to attend the 9th Nanhai (South China Sea) Buddhism Roundtable Conference in Lumbini from Dec 12 to 17, with his visit scheduled from December 14 to 17, reported nepalaaja.com Dec 12. Also, myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com Dec 11 said the Nepal government had kept the planned arrival of the Chinese religious leader “Panchen Lama” a secret. It added that agreement for the visit was made before Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s Dec 2-5 trip to China.
The “Panchen Lama” is scheduled to reach Lumbini directly by flight from Beijing on Dec 13. From Lumbini, he will arrive in Kathmandu, the report said.
The roundtable aims to foster cooperation among Buddhist communities while advancing China’s regional and diplomatic interests. This year’s conference in Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is viewed as another attempt by Beijing to assert its leadership within the global Buddhist community, said the nepalaaja.com report.
On Dec 10, a 10-member delegation of Chinese monks led by Yin Shun, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, arrived in Kathmandu and left for Lumbini to lay the ground for the visit of other dignitaries, said the kathmandupoast.com report.
The report continued that at least 227 Chinese monks and officials of the Buddhist Association of China were arriving in Lumbini on chartered AirBus A330 flight later this week.
Reports also said government officials and monks from around 20 countries will take part in the roundtable.
The media in Nepal are saying Gyaincain Norbu’s visit raises concerns about Nepal’s geopolitical neutrality.
Over Dec 11-12, International Tibet Network, a coalition of global Tibet-related organizations, has written to Prime Minister Oli, saying: “Allowing Gyaltsen Norbu to visit Nepal, when he lacks recognition or standing among Tibetan Buddhists and was a purely strategic appointment by the Chinese government, would violate the wishes of Buddhists around the world. It would signal the Nepalese government’s compliance not only with China’s efforts to legitimise Gyaltsen Norbu as a Tibetan Buddhist leader but also with China’s soft power strategy to co-opt the religious and cultural identity of the Tibetan people to solidify political control over Tibet.”
The letter also said: ” In addition to the concerns raised by Buddhists around the world, UN human rights experts and expert bodies have raised multiple concerns with China about the disappearance of the official 11th Panchen Lama and Beijing’s reincarnation rules, citing that interference ‘undermines, in a discriminatory way, the religious traditions and practices of the Tibetan Buddhist’ community.”
The letter sough to make it clear that “allowing China’s interference will send a dangerous signal that the Government of Nepal is willing to tolerate Chinese interference in religious affairs for geopolitical gain.”
The letter, signed by 142 Tibet groups from across the world, also urged Oli to, among other things, call for the immediate release of the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family.
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was abducted and disappeared with his family by the Chinese government within three days of being recognized by the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, as the reincarnation of the late 10th Panchen Lama in 1995.