US asks China to reveal whereabouts of Tibet's Panchen Lama, who has been missing for 25 years after being abducted at the age of six

Washington DC: US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Monday called on the Chinese government to immediately make public the whereabouts of Panchen Lama and said that his country remains deeply concerned about China’s ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic and cultural identity of Tibetans. [caption id=“attachment_8381251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A portrait of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, an important religious leader second only to the Dalai Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, is seen as exile Tibetans mark his birthday in Dharmsala. AP[/caption] “The Department of State has made the promotion and protection of religious freedom a priority, especially in China, where people of all faiths face severe repression and discrimination,” Pompeo said. “As part of that mission, on 17 May, we marked the 25th anniversary of the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who has not appeared in public since the PRC government abducted him in 1995, at age six,” he added. The US Secretary of State noted that Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism with spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. “But China’s persecution of the Panchen Lama is not unusual. The United States remains deeply concerned about the PRC’s ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic, and cultural identity of Tibetans, including through the ongoing destruction of communities of worship and learning, such as the Larung Gar and Yachen Gar Buddhist Institutes,” said Pompeo. “Tibetan Buddhists, like members of all faith communities, must be able to select, educate, and venerate their religious leaders according to their traditions and without government interference. We call on the PRC government to immediately make public the Panchen Lama’s whereabouts and to uphold its own constitution and international commitments to promote religious freedom for all persons,” the US Secretary of State added. Earlier this year, the US House of Representatives had unanimously passed the Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) to strengthen policy in support of Tibet, a move that was reciprocated as “encouraging and empowering” by the representatives of the Himalayan Buddhist region that has been under the control of China since several decades.