(TibetanReview.net, Oct21’20) – “Tibetan Buddhism, as a part of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation, should be oriented towards sinicization and adapted to socialist society,” China’s official Xinhua news agency Oct 21quoted Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama, as telling monks of Sakya Monastery in Xigaze (Tibetan: Shigatse) City on Oct 6.
The report said Gyaltsen Norbu returned to his home in Beijing on Oct 20 after visiting Tibet Autonomous Region for three months beginning Jul 31. He performed Buddhist rituals and social activities in Tibet’s capital Lhasa as well as other prefecture-level cities of Nagqu (Nagchu) and Nyingchi (Nyingtri) and Xigaze during his visit, the report said.
After arriving in Xigaze city on Sep 25, Gyaltsen Norbu was reported to have visited Yadong County, which is located just across India’s border.
He was stated to have conducted social research in a township under the jurisdiction of Yadong County on Sep 25, including by visiting a village reconstructed following an earthquake.
He was reported to have conducted a series of Buddhist activities at monasteries in the city of Xigaze from Oct 1 to 19, including by participating in a high-level debate on sutras at the Tashilhunpo Monastery, along with more than 300 lamas, on Oct 6.
Tashilhunpo is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas, although the Chinese appointed Panchen Lama, has been living in Beijing, like his predecessor, as required by the Chinese government.
China appointed Gyaltsen Norbu as the Panchen Lama after taking away and disappearing the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama recognized by the Dalai Lama in Apr 1995.
Gyaltsen Norbu is, as the Chinese –appointed 11th Panchen Lama, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body. He is also vice-president of the Buddhist Association of China and president of the association’s Tibet branch.
