China’s Panchen Lama Visits Earthquake Zone: State Media

The man selected by Beijing to be the Panchen Lama has visited the Qinghai earthquake zone to lead prayer services for residents. From AFP:

The visit by Gyaincain Norbu, chosen by Beijing as the Panchen Lama after it rejected a boy selected by the exiled Dalai Lama, comes after China snubbed a request by the Tibetan spiritual leader to be allowed into the quake area.

The 6.9-magnitude quake struck April 14, killing more than 2,000 people and flattening thousands of homes in the ethnically Tibetan region of Yushu in northwestern China.

The Dalai Lama had appealed to the government to allow him into China for the first time in 51 years to visit the quake zone in Qinghai province, where he was born. China did not publicly respond.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has accused the Dalai Lama of faking an interest in the sport of cricket to appeal to his Indian hosts.

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