Buddhist nations urged to speak up ahead of China’s 30-year Panchen Lama abduction, disappearance

Human Rights Watch has on May 15 reiterated its call on China to release the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his parents, ahead of the completion of 30 years since it abducted them on May 17, 1995. The New York-based international rights group said the issue had become all the more urgent as the Dalai Lama marks his 90th birthday on Jul 6, 2025 and the two top spiritual leaders of Tibet have historically played key roles in recognizing each other’s reincarnations. This is an opportune moment for Buddhist nations especially to raise their voices, the group said.

Noting that the question of the current, 14th Dalai Lama’s succession—and the future of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan people—is becoming increasingly urgent, the group said the Chinese government forcibly disappeared the then six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima three days after the Dalai Lama recognized him as the 11th Panchen Lama. Even his pictures, along with those of the Dalai Lama, are prohibited in Tibet.

The kidnapping and disappearance of the six-year-old and his family for 30 years thus far was meant to “control the selection of the next Dalai Lama and thus Tibetan Buddhism itself,” Yalkun Uluyol, the group’s China researcher, has said.

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