Panchen Lama to get official post
Gyaltsen Norbu, a Tibetan youth anointed by China’s Communist Party as the 11th Panchen Lama, is to become the country’s youngest official holding a rank equivalent to Cabinet minister as early as next month, said a source with knowledge of government policy on Tibet.
China and the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, chose rival reincarnations of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, in 1995.
The Dalai Lama’s choice, who was then 6, disappeared from public view, leading human rights watchdogs to call him the world’s youngest political prisoner.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
