Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CHENGDU235
2007-09-24 03:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Chengdu
Cable title:  

TRYING TO DISCUSS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AT TIBET'S TASHILHUNPO

Tags:  PHUM PGOV SOCI CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
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INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
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)



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