How Xi’s meeting with China-backed Panchen Lama shows Beijing’s anxiety over Dalai Lama’s succession

Recently, while looking at old papers, I came across an article that I wrote thirty years ago for Russi Karanjia’s Blitz tabloid.

It was about the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, who in 1951 had been selected by the Communist regime in Beijing, despite the findings and against the will of the Dalai Lama’s government in Lhasa.

Years later, though groomed and educated by the Communist Party, Choekyi Gyaltsen, the Chinese candidate, turned out to be one of the greatest Tibetan patriots; in fact, he passed away in mysterious circumstances during a rare visit to Tibet in January 1989, probably eliminated by Beijing.

This story is for NewsDay subscribers.