Tibet's 11th "Panchen Lama," anointed by China's atheist Communists but not by the Tibet's Dalai Lama, took center stage at the World Buddhist Forum yesterday, defending China's record on religion.
Chinese leaders opened the forum in the eastern city of Hangzhou with a pledge to respect religious freedom and sought to ease fears the rise of the world's most populous nation would be a threat to the world.
Gyaltsen Norbu, appointed in 1995 as the Himalayan region's second most important religious figure after Beijing rejected the Dalai Lama's nominee, shared the stage at an auditorium with eight Buddhist leaders from South Korea, Taiwan and Sri Lanka, taking the middle seat.
Norbu is believed to live in Beijing amid intense secrecy and is almost never seen in public.
The tall, thin teenager delivered a 10-minute speech in Tibetan, which was interrupted twice by applause from more than 1,000 delegates from 34 countries. The speech, according to an official translation, dwelt on Buddhism's responsibility to foster patriotism and national unity.
``Defending the nation and working for the people is a solemn commitment Buddhism has made to the nation and society,'' Norbu said.
He praised his predecessor, who was imprisoned for years after openly criticizing Beijing's politics in Tibet, for having made "outstanding contributions to the unity of the country and the solidarity of the people."
It was believed to be the first time Norbu had taken part in an international religious gathering, an apparent sign that Beijing is seeking greater acceptance of its choice of Panchen Lama.
The Dalai Lama's nominee is believed to have been under house arrest since 1995, when he was six years old. International human rights watchdogs call him the world's youngest political prisoner.
Many Tibetans dismiss China's choice as a sham.
Gyaltsen Norbu made his debut on the world stage on Wednesday, sitting alongside about 50 Buddhist leaders during an audience at a hotel with Jia Qinglin (
Two other top lamas of Tibetan Buddhism were conspicuously absent from the forum.
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since 1959 when he fled his homeland after an abortive uprising. A 23-year-old backed by the Dalai Lama as the Karmapa Lama, ranked third, fled to India in 1999.
Liu Yandong (劉延東), number two in the top advisory body to parliament and the most senior Chinese at the forum, sought to play down fears China's rise would be a threat to the world.
"Internal harmony will definitely lead to external peace," he said, days before a summit between Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and US President George W. Bush in Washington.
"A peacefully developing China looks forward to a peacefully co-existing world," he said.
Xi Jinping (習近平), party chief of Zhejiang Province, who lobbied to host the forum, pledged to respect religious freedom.
"We will, as always, comprehensively carry out policies on freedom of religious worship and support religion to make due contributions to promote a harmonious society."
A photo exhibition is being held at the forum venue, but there were no pictures of either the Dalai Lama or from the chaotic 1966 to 1976 Cultural Revolution when monasteries were closed, statues smashed and religious texts burned.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing