His Excellency Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli
Prime Minister of Nepal
Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers
Singhdurbar, Kathmandu, Nepal

12 December 2024

Dear Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli

We, a coalition of global Tibet-related organisations, are writing to express our deep alarm concerning reports of Gyaltsen Norbu (CH: Gyaincain Norbu), Beijing’s illegitimate Panchen Lama, visiting Nepal to attend the 9th South China Sea Buddhism Roundtable Conference.

The Chinese government has promoted Gyaltsen Norbu as the Panchen Lama since appointing him in 1995, despite him lacking recognition among Tibetan Buddhists. This appointment contradicts the centuries-old tradition in which the Dalai Lama identifies the Panchen Lama. Meanwhile, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the officially recognised 11th Panchen Lama, identified by the 14th Dalai Lama, has been missing since 1995, when he was forcibly taken by Chinese authorities when he was just six years old.

Allowing Gyaltsen Norbu to visit Nepal, when he lacks recognition or standing among Tibetan Buddhists and was a purely strategic appointment by the Chinese government, would violate the wishes of Buddhists around the world. It would signal the Nepalese government’s compliance not only with China’s efforts to legitimise Gyaltsen Norbu as a Tibetan Buddhist leader but also with China’s soft power strategy to co-opt the religious and cultural identity of the Tibetan people to solidify political control over Tibet.

Chinese government officials have repeatedly made it clear that Beijing deploys Buddhism as a tool to achieve its political objectives of supremacy in geopolitical, military, and territorial issues as well as the legitimacy of its occupation of Tibet. To this end, and in contravention of the wishes of Tibetan Buddhists and Buddhists around the world, the Chinese government has asserted that it has sole authority over the identification and installation of Tibetan Buddhist lamas.

China’s public relations strategy to elevate Gyaltsen Norbu’s status within the Buddhist hierarchy, portraying him as “the highest ranking figure in Tibetan Buddhism” and the “leader of Tibetan Buddhism is central to its longer-term efforts to control over key lineages, including that of the Dalai Lama, and Tibetan Buddhism more widely.

In addition to the concerns raised by Buddhists around the world, UN human rights experts and expert bodies have raised multiple concerns with China about the disappearance of the official 11th Panchen Lama and Beijing’s reincarnation rules, citing that interference “undermines, in a discriminatory way, the religious traditions and practices of the Tibetan Buddhist’ community.

The Government of Nepal must reject these attempts to undermine the country’s long, rich Buddhist history, which will threaten its global integrity and international standing. Allowing China’s interference will send a dangerous signal that the Government of Nepal is willing to tolerate Chinese interference in religious affairs for geopolitical gain.

Instead, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, we call on you to:

1. Immediately repeal any agreement that Gyaltsen Norbu can enter Nepal and ensure that any future visits by Beijing-appointed Tibetan religious figures are refused;
2. Oppose all efforts by the Government of the People’s Republic of China to select and appoint Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders and refuse to endorse China’s candidates, including China’s Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu;
3. Call for the immediate release of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family;

Yours sincerely

Mandie McKeown, Executive Director
International Tibet Network
E: mandie@tibetnetwork.org

On behalf of the following 142 global Tibet groups: