ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 3, 1996 TAG: 9606030114
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEIJING
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A 6-year-old boy chosen by the Chinese government as the highest Buddhist leader in Tibet has been initiated as a monk, while a rival candidate remains in government custody.
With the Dalai Lama in exile in India, the Panchen Lama is the highest spiritual leader in Tibet. Beijing hopes the boy will lend legitimacy to its often harsh 46-year rule in Tibet, and dampen Tibetans' fervor for the Dalai Lama and independence.
Hundreds of chanting monks attended the ritual Saturday, a festival date in the Tibetan calendar, to induct Gyaincain Norbu as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.
As monks recited scriptures, the robed boy presented offerings to abbots in the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in central Tibet, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama.
China's official Xinhua news agency said the boy wakes early to recite scriptures and studies for five to six hours a day. Saturday marked his first time leading prayers in front of so many monks but ``he remained energetic and calm'' throughout the three-hour ceremony, it said.
China enthroned the boy last December, rejecting the choice of the Dalai Lama, whom they accuse of promoting Tibetan independence.
The Dalai Lama's choice, Gedhun Cheokyi Nyima, disappeared shortly after he was picked in May 1995. Last week, Beijing admitted to holding the boy, saying he was in danger of being kidnapped by Tibetan separatists and was placed under government protection.
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