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RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3165

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000235 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL, AND G 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  9/24/2032 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: TRYING TO DISCUSS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AT TIBET'S TASHILHUNPO 
MONASTERY 
 
REF: CHENGDU 137 
 
CHENGDU 00000235  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate 
General, Chengdu. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  While doing everything possible to dodge our 
questions during a recent meeting choreographed by the Lhasa 
Foreign Affairs Office (FAO), a high-ranking monk/official of 
the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse did acknowledge that the 
over decade-long dispute between Chinese authorities and the 
Dalai Lama over who should be recognized as the true incarnation 
of the 11th Panchen Lama represents a significant "management 
challenge."  There was a noticeable underlying tension between 
some of the ethnic Tibetan and Han Chinese officials who 
accompanied us on our visit to Tashilhunpo, the traditional seat 
of the Panchen Lama and one of the holiest sites in Tibetan 
Buddhism, with Tibetan handlers quietly indicating 
dissatisfaction with government interference at the monastery. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Kicking off the start of a two-week swing through western 
regions of China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), CG met 
September 10 in Shigatse with Tashilhunpo Monastery Democratic 
Management Committee (DMC) Executive Director Salong Punla to 
try to discuss the current situation with regard to  religious 
freedom at his institution.  (Note: DMCs are one of the tools 
through with government authorities try to exercise control over 
monasteries and are charged with such tasks as conducting 
"patriotic education" sessions.  End note).   The meeting was 
chaperoned/controlled/interrupted by the government's chosen 
handler for our visit, newly-appointed Lhasa FAO Deputy Director 
Wu Yinjian, a Han Chinese who just arrived in August from the 
Foreign Ministry in Beijing to begin a three-year assignment in 
the TAR as a "Help Tibet Cadre"  (Yuanzang Ganbu).  In the end, 
however, Salong Punla needed little direction as he appeared 
more than willing to stick literally to the party line.  Salong 
Punla was not joined by any other monks during the meeting, 
something which at other discussions we have had at Tibetan 
monasteries sometimes results in the private volunteering of 
information by those attending.  FAO Deputy Director Wu was 
accompanied by ethnic Tibetan officers from both the Lhasa and 
Shigatse FAOs.  Congenoff and ethnic Tibetan FSN also 
participated. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
---------------------- 
Chadrel Rinpoche and the Search for the Panchen Lama 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) In response to a number of questions from the CG, Salong 
Punla described his take on the dispute between Chinese 
authorities and the Dalai Lama dating back to 1995 over who 
should be recognized as the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama 
and spiritual head of the Tashilhunpo Monastery.  Salong Punla 
stated he had been a member of the Tashilhunpo search team in 
charge of looking for the 11th incarnation following the passing 
away of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989.  Salong Punla claimed he 
and other team members decided to disqualify Gendun Choekyi 
Nyima as a candidate because the principal local supporter, 
Tashilhunpo Lama Chadrel Rinpoche, had been in secret 
communication with the Dalai Lama about the selection process 
and tried to fix divination results in Gendun Choekyi Nyima's 
favor.  Salong Punla asserted that Gyaltsen Norbu is the true 
11th incarnation and has wide support from local Tibetan 
Buddhists, not just the central government.  Without going into 
detail, however, he did acknowledge the issue continues to be a 
significant "management challenge" for him at the monastery. 
 
¶4. (C) Salong Punla would not be drawn out on the fate or 
current whereabouts of Chadrel Rinpoche who has not been seen 
publicly since 1995 and is reportedly under house arrest in 
Lhasa.  Salong Punla tried to dance around the issue, saying on 
the one hand he was sure Chadrel Rinpoche was not being 
detained, but also that he had no idea what has happened to him. 
 With regard to other supporters of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, 
however, Salong Punla noted that "perhaps" four or five, some of 
whom were monks, were sent to prison in the mid-1990s.  He said 
he was sure that by now they "must have been released," but also 
that he had no idea what has since become of them. 
 
----------------------------- 
Where is Everyone? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Salong Punla was equally cagey as to the whereabouts of 
Gendun Choekyi Nyima.  In an almost comic exchange, when asked 
 
CHENGDU 00000235  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
by the CG if Gendun Choekyi Nyima is currently studying in 
Beijing, Salong Punla replied in the affirmative only to be 
quickly interrupted by an FAO official who noted his exact 
location is "unknown."  At which point, Salong Punla quickly 
said, "that's right, I'm not sure where he is, but I do know he 
is studying."  (Note: per reftel, a senior lama at a Tibetan 
monastery in western Sichuan indicated to CG in May that Gendun 
Choekyi Nyima remains under close government control in Beijing. 
 In late August, however, TAR Vice Chairman Nyima Tsering told 
the Chinese press Gendun Choekyi Nyima is currently studying at 
a high school in the TAR.  End note). 
 
¶6. (C) Not wishing to speculate as to when the government-backed 
Gyaltsen Norbu would move from Beijing to Tashilhunpo to preside 
over the monastery or  why he makes few public appearances, 
Salong Punla stressed that Gyaltsen Norbu (eighteen-years-old in 
2007) still has "much to learn" in Beijing.  (Note: we 
understand that one rumor currently going around the Tibetan 
community has it that Gyaltsen Norbu himself has disappeared and 
may be trying to leave China for India.  End note). 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
Regs on Reincarnation and Cultural Relics 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
¶7. (C) According to Salong Punla, he has not yet had the 
opportunity to review the new regulations from China's State 
Administration for Religious Affairs on the "Management of and 
Identification of Tibetan Buddhist Reincarnates" issued in July 
¶2007.  He said he is sure, however, they would not in any way 
conflict with traditional practices which he claimed also call 
for close coordination of the selection process with government 
officials.  Salong Punla also brushed aside a question from the 
CG on regulations regarding ownership of cultural 
relics/artifacts, noting that "of course" all such items 
ultimately belong to the state, although he remarked it is 
unlikely they would ever be removed from monasteries. 
 
------------------------------- 
Taking a Look Around 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) At the conclusion of the meeting, FAO Deputy Director Wu 
went on at length thanking Salong Punla for his "contributions" 
to his country.  Wu made a point of letting Salong Punla know he 
would make sure Beijing is made aware of his great "service and 
dedication."  Later during a quick tour of the monastery led for 
us by a young monk, throughout which Wu hovered close by, we had 
a chance to see briefly one of the current challenges of the 
monastery.  As the young monk told the CG and as was evident by 
the large number of picture-snapping visitors, "summers at 
Tashilhunpo are for tourists."  In fact, the monastery gets up 
to 10,000 tourist visitors a day during peak summer season. 
According to the young monk, those who are interested in 
religion and pilgrimage should best come during the winter. 
 
---------------- 
Comments 
---------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Given the absence of a Panchen Lama in residence, as well 
as the fact that the overall head of the monastery's DMC is 
believed to be in Beijing serving as tutor to Gyaltsen Norbu, 
Salong Punla is de facto acting head of Tashilhunpo.  He is 
currently in his late 70's and has been a monk at the monastery 
since he was thirteen.  Whatever his inclination to toe the 
official line, a government regulation that limits monasteries 
to accepting only religious students who are 
eighteen-years-of-age or older appears to be openly violated at 
Tashilhunpo.  We saw many young boys dressed in robes who 
appeared barely to be in their early teens and the young monk 
who gave us the tour told the CG he joined the monastery when he 
was just twelve. 
 
¶10. (C) The reliquary halls of Tashilhunpo that attract most of 
the monastery's tourist traffic were some of the few places 
during our entire tour of Shigatse Prefecture where we saw any 
portraits of the government-backed Panchen Lama.  The portraits 
of Gyaltsen Norbu were always that of him as a young child and 
part of a triptych with the ninth and tenth Panchen Lamas.  Our 
young tour guide declined to comment as to why there were not 
any up-to-date portraits of Gyaltsen Norbu.  We also did not see 
any portraits of Gyaltsen Norbu for sale in the many picture 
shops around Shigatse, although there were many of the 10th 
Panchen Lama.  Local contacts told us that, as it is risky to 
possess portraits of the Dalai Lama-backed Gendun Choekyi Nyima, 
Tibetan Buddhist believers show their opposition to the 
government-backed Gyaltsen Norbu by wearing or displaying images 
of the 10th Panchen Lama instead. 
 
CHENGDU 00000235  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶11. (C) While FAO Deputy Director Wu may have been impressed 
(relieved) by Salong Punla's laudatory comments of government 
policies during his meeting with us, the other ethnic Tibetan 
officials in the room apparently were less so.  When the 
Consulate's Tibetan FSN asked one of them later in private what 
he thought about the meeting, the official replied "what do I 
think?  I think Salong Punla is well paid."  During our 
subsequent tour of the monastery, when one of the ethnic Tibetan 
officials saw that our FSN was visibly moved by the sight of the 
stupa or shrine containing the remains of the 10th Panchen Lama, 
she took him aside quietly and said that he should perform his 
religious devotions in the back of the stupa rather the front, 
noting that "the Chinese" shifted his remains and enclosed them 
in the back in order to "hide" the fact that the body was not 
decomposing. 
BOUGHNER