Beijing, China: In a closed-door meeting that reeked more of imperial theatre than spiritual dialogue, Xi Jinping met with Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese Communist Party’s handpicked “Panchen Lama” on June 6, 2025, inside the iron-clad walls of Zhongnanhai. The message was clear: Tibetan Buddhism will bow or it will break.
Gyaltsen Norbu, now 35, was installed by Beijing in 1995 after the abduction of the legitimate 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, recognized by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The real boy disappeared at the age of six and hasn’t been seen since. Norbu was pulled from obscurity and propped up in his place, a spiritual throne turned political podium.
In this recent meeting, Norbu declared with robotic precision:
“I will firmly support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and resolutely safeguard the unity of the motherland and national unity.”
Let’s be clear, this was not a religious vow. It was a loyalty oath to the regime that erased his predecessor.
Xi Jinping, parroting the same tired rhetoric, urged Norbu to help guide Tibetan Buddhism toward “Sinicization” and to serve the “modernization of Tibet” through “ethnic harmony” a euphemism for state surveillance, cultural erasure, and ideological reprogramming.
The Context
This meeting falls just weeks before the 90th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, on June 30 according to the Tibetan calendar. Inside Tibet, celebrating this day publicly is forbidden. Tibetans have been arrested and beaten for offering incense in his name.
At the same time, China marks 30 years since it disappeared Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. The United Nations has repeatedly asked for access to him. Beijing’s response? Stonewalling and lies.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) responded to the Norbu–Xi meeting by stating:
“This is not religion—it’s propaganda. Gyaltsen Norbu is not the Panchen Lama. He is a hostage dressed in a monk’s robes.”
Gyaltsen Norbu’s only real role has been as a ceremonial mouthpiece for the CCP. Tibetans inside and outside Tibet continue to reject him. He is not welcomed in major religious ceremonies and lacks any organic following. His appearances are state-staged, his words scripted, his robes a political costume.
By tightening control over the Panchen Lama office, China is laying the groundwork to control the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama—a spiritual process now in the crosshairs of authoritarianism.
Human Rights Watch noted in a statement:
“This meeting is not a show of religious leadership. It is a display of political colonization. The real Panchen Lama remains missing, and with him, a piece of Tibet’s soul.”
Infrastructure of Control
While Norbu chants the praises of the party, the Chinese state deepens its grip over the plateau:
– Expanding surveillance networks.
– Militarizing monasteries.
– Jailing Tibetans for teaching language or preserving culture.
– Using infrastructure to erase sacred geography.
This is not religion.This is occupation.And Gyaltsen Norbu is not a spiritual leader. He is a marionette in Beijing’s theater of deception.
The Tibetan people—inside Tibet and across the globe—have not forgotten the child who vanished in 1995. Nor have they been fooled by the polished lies of Zhongnanhai. The world must stop pretending this is normal.
The Panchen Lama is missing.
The truth is not.
