By Steve Jackson

BBC East Asia analyst



Campaigners say Gendun will be marking his birthday in captivity

Gendun Cheokyi Nyima, now 18 years old, was named Panchen Lama aged five but has not been seen in public since.

The Chinese authorities rejected his appointment and named their own Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, in 1995.

Beijing says Gendun is living a free life but campaigners say he has been under house arrest during childhood.

Kate Saunders, who represents a Washington-based group, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), said little was known about his whereabouts.

"It's most likely that he's being held somewhere in the vicinity of Beijing itself because that's where the authorities could probably control him the best.

"But there's no doubt that it will be in a very secure environment," she said.

'Religious persecution'

The ICT has produced a report on religious freedom to coincide with the birthday of Gendun Cheokyi Nyima.

Gyaltsen Norbu was appointed by Beijing as Panchen Lama in 1995

It accuses the Chinese authorities of launching a new campaign to curb the influence in Tibet of the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India.

Ms Saunders says the Panchen Lama who disappeared is a victim of China's attempts to control Tibetan religious thinking.

"His plight and also the installation of an alternative candidate by Beijing has come to symbolise for many Tibetans the crisis facing the survival of their religious culture in Tibet."

The Chinese foreign ministry has angrily rejected the accusations of religious persecution in Tibet.

A spokesman said Tibetans were guaranteed normal religious freedoms, but he refused to reveal where Gendun Cheokyi Nyima was living.

Campaigners hope the boy's 18th birthday may change the approach of the Chinese authorities to his situation.