Panchen Lama, any of the line of reincarnated lamas in Tibet, each of whom heads the influential Tashilhunpo Monastery (near Zhikatse) and until recent times was second only to the Dalai Lama in spiritual authority within the dominant Dge-lugs-pa sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

The role of the Panchen Lama is of key political significance to the Chinese authorities as the Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in the Tibetan religious hierarchy, traditionally decides upon the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama. In an indication of how seriously Beijing views this question, a religious advisor to the Chinese government, Tao Changsong, warned that the next incarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama "will not be chosen from foreigners" and that he will be "a Tibetan born in Chinese territory". The exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama said in May 1997 that his next reincarnation would "definitely" be born outside Tibet if the Chinese-Tibetan dispute continues.

The title Panchen (a short form of the Sanskrit-Tibetan Pandita Chen-po, or "Great Scholar") was that traditionally given to head abbots of the Tashilhunpo Monastery, who were chosen for their maturity and learning. In the 17th century the fifth Dalai Lama declared that his tutor, Blo-bzang chos-kyi-rgyal-mtshan (1570-1662), who was the current Panchen Lama, would be reincarnated in a child. He thus became the first of the line of reincarnated lamas, reappearing as Blo-bzang-ye-shes (1663-1737), Blo-bzang-dpal-ldan-ye-shes (1737-80), Blo-bzang-bstan-pa'i-nyi-ma (1781-1854), Bs-tan-pa'i-dbang-phyug (1854-82), and Chos-kyi Nyi-ma (1883-1937). They were each regarded as physical manifestations of the self-born Buddha, Amitabha. (Sometimes the three lamas who preceded Blo-bzang chos-kyi-rgyal-mtshan as abbots of Tashilhunpo are also included in the list of reincarnations.)

The little boy named by the Chinese in November 1995 as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama arrived in Lhasa and was met at a "grand welcoming ceremony" by Phagpa-lha Geleg Namgyal, chairman of the CPPCC Tibet Regional Committee, and other officials. The authorities in Tibet enthroned Gyaltsen Norbu as Panchen Lama at Tashilhunpo monastery, Shigatse, on 8 December 1996 after rejecting the Dalai Lama's choice, ten-year old Gendun Choekyi Nyima. Gendun Choekyi Nyima was detained by the Chinese authorities in May 1995 and has been held since then in an unknown location with his family. The Chinese authorities state that he is being held in "protective custody for his own safety" and that he is leading "a normal life". Repeated requests by foreign governments over the past three years to meet him have been denied.

Because of opposition to his installation at Tashilhunpo in 1996 and the failure of Tibetans to show him due respect the boy has spent the last three years in Beijing studying Buddhism under the tutelage of Bomi Rinpoche, a senior religious leader who is widely respected among Tibetans.

It is not known whether this particular visit has provoked any open opposition from Tibetans in Tibet but reports continue to reach TIN of resistance to the patriotic education campaign, of the refusal of monks and nuns to denounce the Dalai Lama and of the unwavering belief among Tibetans that Gendun Choekyi Nyima is the real Panchen Lama. These reports indicate that the patriotic education campaign has not achieved its objective of changing the loyalties of Buddhist believers in the region.

The Panchen Lama controversy has probably led to more resistance among Tibetans than any other single issue in recent years and the drive to eradicate this opposition has been a top priority of the Chinese authorities in the implementation of the patriotic education campaign throughout the region. For Tibetans, allegiance to Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the candidate recognised by the Dalai Lama in May 1995 as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, has become a way to express their loyalty for the Dalai Lama.

 The Chinese government appear to be becoming increasingly frustrated that the West do not support their choice of Panchen Lama. The most recent face-off was during the US-China dialogue on human rights held in Washington in January when China turned down a request by Assistant Secretary of State Harold Koh, who led the US delegation in the talks, to have access to Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy chosen by the Dalai Lama.

Official reports on the visit to Tibet of the Chinese choice of Panchen Lama have been heavily loaded with references to the selection process involved in his recognition and how it was "conducted in strict accordance with religious rules and historic practices". Furthermore, reference by Xinhua to his ability to "recite sutras for three successive days" indicates that they are trying to portray the boy as a natural prodigy with special gifts often associated with reincarnated lamas. Much of the language used in the reports echoes that of the propaganda that has dominated the patriotic education campaign, emphasising the theme of "loving the country and religion." In his comments regarding the future reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tao Changsong, a Chinese research scholar at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences who has lived in Tibet for over 30 years, added that whoever was chosen would have to be "patriotic and have no intention of splitting the country."

In February 1998 Xinhua reported that he donated 30,000 yuan (USD3,600) to assist snowstorm victims in Nagchu (Ch: Naqu) prefecture in northern Tibet - a gesture intended to prove his devotion to the Tibetan people. In the same month he was reported to have attended a Buddhist ceremony at Xihuang temple in northern Beijing where China's Advanced Buddhist College is situated and where he had also attended a ceremony in August 1997. Other references to the nine-year old boy since he left Tibet in 1996 include a Xinhua report in February 1997 that he was "grieved by the passing of Deng Xiaoping" and a report on him meeting Li Peng, then Premier of China's State Council, shortly after his arrival in Beijing in September 1996.