Beijing leaders, ever wary of potential rivals for the Communist Party’s authority, viewed the boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as a possible threat. Days earlier the Dalai Lama had named him the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest spiritual leader in the largest sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
Tibetans have long marked his birthday with celebrations held in absentia, and reiterated long-standing requests to Beijing to reveal Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s fate. The Panchen Lama’s abduction illustrates the sensitivity of Chinese authorities to other prominent religious figures amid their effort to control Tibetans by suppressing expressions of their Buddhist faith.
