Reveal whereabouts of Panchen Lama, US tells China

Washington, May 18

The US has urged China to immediately account for the Panchen Lama’s whereabouts and his well-being, coinciding with the 29th anniversary of the Tibetan spiritual leader’s disappearance from the remote Himalayan region.

The Panchen Lama is one of the most important religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism, second only to the Dalai Lama himself.

“Today marks 29 years since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) abducted the 11th Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, as a six-year-old child. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains missing and has not appeared in public since that day,” a press statement from the US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Friday here.

Titled ‘Marking 29 Years Since the Panchen Lama’s Disappearance’, the statement further said, “The PRC government is denying members of the Tibetan community access to this important religious figure and instead continues to promote a state-selected proxy.”

It was on May 17, 1995, that he was taken into Chinese custody along with his entire family, making him the youngest political prisoner in the world at the age of six.