Speaking at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., with President Donald Trump sitting nearby, Pelosi drew special attention to the case of Tibet’s Panchen Lama, who disappeared in Chinese custody in 1995 at the age of six so that Beijing could install a candidate of its own. China’s meddling in the succession of Buddhist leaders is a major bone of contention for Tibetans. “Let us pray for the Panchen Lama and all the Tibetan Buddhists in prison in China or missing for their faith,” Pelosi said, adding, “Let us [also] pray for . . . the one to three million Uyghurs in China forced from their homes and incarcerated in camps.”
Authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of northwestern China are believed to have detained up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities accused of harboring “strong religious views” and “politically incorrect” ideas since April 2017.
