Panchen Lama makes rare TV appearance

Norbu is rarely seen in public and is kept under tight security near Beijing

BEIJING, China -- After years of living in seclusion and amid tight security, the boy endorsed by Beijing as Tibet's 11th Panchen Lama has made a rare appearance on Chinese television.

Gyancain Norbu, chosen by the Chinese authorities as the second-highest spiritual authority in Tibetan Buddhism, was shown being received by the Chinese leadership on Saturday.

Norbu was shown seated next to Li Ruihuan, the increasingly influential chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

He offered gifts to Li and expressed his gratitude to the Communist Party and the central government for their care and attention to him.

CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

In return Li gave a New Year gift saying he hoped the boy, "would contribute yet more to the good of the motherland, Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhism."

Norbu's legitimacy is disputed by the exiled Tibetan leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, who lives in India.

In 1995 he chose another boy of the same age as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.

'Custody'

Exiled Tibetan activists back the Dalai Lama's choice for Panchen Lama who they say has been kidnapped by the Chinese authorities

The boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, disappeared after the Dalai Lama's endorsement and has been labeled by pro-Tibet groups as the world's youngest political prisoner.

Suspicions that the boy had been kidnapped were heightened in May 1996 when the Chinese leadership admitted to holding him and his family in "protective custody."

No international agencies or human rights organizations (including the United Nations) have been allowed to visit the boy or his family, and their condition remains uncertain.

Chinese authorities have given assurances that the boy and his family are in good health.

Pro-independence forces in Tibet say Beijing's suppression of the rival claimant is another part of its effort to control the Tibetan people, their religion, and their nation.

The Panchen Lama plays an important role in Tibetan Buddhism -- primarily because it falls to him to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama when the incumbent dies.