The Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan on Monday called on Beijing to provide details on the 11th Panchen Lama, who was kidnapped by the Chinese government 26 years ago.
The 11th Panchen Lama, born Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was abducted along with his family by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1995 when he was six years old.
In the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism that is practiced in Tibet, the Panchen Lama is responsible for seeking out the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, and his authority is second only to the Dalai Lama.
Photo copied by Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Network founder Tashi Tsering said no information about Gedhun or his family has been revealed since their abduction.
“The only picture we have of him is from when he was six, just before he was kidnapped. He’s the youngest political prisoner in history worldwide,” he said.
Tibetan government-in-exile representative to Taiwan Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa said Beijing should release Gedhun to reduce his suffering amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kelsang also expressed hope for Taiwanese to weather the pandemic unharmed.
“In the past, human rights groups and Buddhists called for the unconditional release of the 11th Panchen Lama, but the Chinese government always lied. They said he was living a healthy, happy life and didn’t want to be disturbed,” Kelsang said.
Gedhun’s case is the longest-running enforced-disappearance case on record at the UN, he said, adding that the UN Human Rights Council has unsuccessfully appealed to Beijing several times for visitation rights to see Gedhun.
The US Department of State on April 22 said in a news release that “we respect Tibetans’ right to select, educate and venerate their own leaders, like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, according to their own beliefs, and without government interference.”
A report by the UN’s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on Dec. 8 last year said Gedhun’s kidnapping “violates the religious traditions and customs of Tibetan Buddhists,” and called on China to explain its actions, Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Shih Yi-hsiang (施逸翔) said.
China responded one month later, saying it was unable to confirm the whereabouts of Gedhun, he said.
“This is something the whole global community should be concerned about. China should release Gedhun at once and provide a comprehensive report to the UN’s human rights bodies,” Shih said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
RSS