Panchen Lama was responsible for the appointment of the next Dalai Lama
United States Diplomacy Chief Marco Rubio asked China to release Panchen Lama, 30 years after number two of Tibetan Buddhism and responsible for appointing the next Dalai Lama disappeared.
“Days after Dalai Lama assigned this young man as an important Tibetan Buddhist leader, Chinese authorities broke him and his family,” the US Secretary of State said on Sunday.
“They have not been seen since. Chinese authorities should immediately free Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and stop persecuting Tibetans for their religious beliefs,” Rubio added.
The Chinese government and the followers of Dalai Lama, the maximum figure of Tibetan Buddhism, have been disagreed with who should occupy the position of Panchen Lama since Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, then six, disappeared in 1995 and was approved a candidate supported by China for office.
The Dalai Lama, considered by Beijing as a dangerous separatist, denounced the change and refused to recognize the current Panchen Lama, considered the number two of religion and responsible for seeking the successor of the current Dalai Lama.
The popular liberation army of China entered the territory in 1950 and Dalai Lama fled to India nine years later during a revolt against Chinese rule.
China argues that Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say they have been independent for most of that time.
On May 8, the European Parliament approved a resolution that condemned Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s abduction, as well as China’s repression and assimilation policies in the autonomous region of Tibet.
The text also appealed to sanctions and an independent investigation to clarify the circumstances of death in the Vietname of Tibetan religious leader Tulku Hungkar Dorje, who was detained in late March by Chinese and Vietnamese agents.
Beijing then protested against the measure and appealed to the European Parliament to stop “sending wrong signs to the separatist forces.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China then asked “the European Parliament to face the facts and fully understand the seriousness and sensitivity of” tibet -related issues.
