Thaindian
March 8, 2010

Dharamsala, Mar 8 (ANI) -- The Speaker of the
Tibetan parliament-in-exile, Pempa Tsering, has
said that China should allow international
agencies to see the Panchen Lama, the successor
of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Tsering was reacting to a statement made by the
new Chinese-appointed governor of Tibet, Padma
Choling, an ethnic Tibetan appointed in January
on Sunday that the Panchen Lama is safe and is living in Tibet.

"If they (Chinese) are really serious about what
they are saying, I think they should allow
international agencies, neutral agencies to see
how he (Panchen Lama) is staying, what kind of
studies he is getting. And, we are for sure that
he is not in Tibet, that’s for sure, must be
somewhere in China, if he is alive, that we don’t
know. So, there’s no evidence and as long (as)
there is no evidence we don’t see anything new in
what they have stated so far,” Tsering said.

The Dalai Lama’s selection of the Panchen Lama, a
six-year-old boy, led to Beijing swiftly picking him up and taking him away.

Human rights groups dubbed the child as "the
world’s youngest political prisoner." Tsering
further said that if such statements about the
Panchen Lama are made by China, then they should be supported with evidence.

"We have always been demanding that if they are
making such statements it should come up with
evidence, it should come with proof, at least
have some photographs to say that this is Panchen
Lama and he is studying and so. Even if they
can’t divulge where he is studying, at least they
can say that he is safe and there should be some
photograph or evidence or if possible there
should be neutral people to go and meet him and his family,” he said.

China has defended its iron-fisted rule in Tibet,
saying not only did it free a million Tibetan
serfs but it also poured billions of dollars into
the Himalayan region for development. (ANI)