The boy chosen by Beijing as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's second-highest figure, met with China's top legislator and expressed support for the Communist Party, state media reported.
Gyaltsen Norbu presented Wu Bangguo (
"He vowed to support the [Chinese Communist Party, CCP] leadership and make more contributions to the Tibetan economy and social harmony by guiding more religious work to adapt to China's socialist society," it said.
Wu encouraged Norbu, 17, to "take responsibility to enhance China's reunification and do more things that could benefit the country," the report said.
The exchange took place amid increased sensitivity over China's continued attempts to subvert Tibetan Buddhist culture and strengthen Beijing's hold on the Himalayan region. Rights groups and Tibetan exiles are using the upcoming Beijing Olympics as a platform to support their cause.
Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has said he will skip the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Olympic Games in a move being linked to his support of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader who fled to India in 1959 following an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.
Tibetans say their territory was independent when communist troops arrived in 1950 and the Dalai Lama has campaigned for autonomy to protect its culture. Beijing denies that Tibet has ever been independent and accuses the Dalai Lama of splittism.
The Dalai Lama is calling for peaceful protests during the Olympics as a way to remind the Chinese public of government policies the 72-year-old Nobel Peace laureate says are eroding the region's Buddhist culture.
In May 1995, the Dalai Lama chose six-year-old Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama.
The boy and his family disappeared soon after and have not been heard from since. Human rights groups say the boy has been under house arrest since. China claims he is attending school and his identity is being protected.
Months later, Beijing named Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion