Why was he kidnapped?

The Chinese government rejected the Dalai Lama's candidate as "illegal and invalid" and, six months after Gedhun's abduction, China announced that it had found the "real" reincarnation. They named Gyaltsen Norbu (pictured on the right), a Tibetan boy and the son of two Communist Party members, as the Panchen Lama.

Since his selection, Gyaltsen, who lives in Beijing, has only rarely visited Tibet. His visits are carefully stage-managed and heavily policed and Tibetans still refer to him as the 'Panchen Zuma', or 'false Panchen'.

Gyaltsen Norbu is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a top advisory body to China's government and a senior figure in China’s state-run Buddhist Association. In a speech in 2015, he vowed to uphold "national unity" - the Chinese government's term for opposing any change in Tibet's status.

The abduction and replacement of the Panchen Lama is part of China's efforts to 'stabilise' Tibet by controlling its religion and breaking the Dalai Lama's influence. Not only are they attempting to use their puppet Panchen Lama to control and influence Tibetans today, but when the time comes to find the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama they will use him to try and legitimise the appointment of their own pro-China candidate as the next leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

Where is the Panchen Lama now?

The location of the Panchen Lama is one of China’s most tightly-guarded secrets, one that they refuse to share. Despite Beijing’s claims that he is safe and does not want to be disturbed, Tibetans continue to demand to know where he is. Even after China appointed their own, pro-Chinese Panchen Lama, Tibetans have never forgotten Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.

In May 1996, China admitted that Gedhun and his family were being held at a secret location and China's ambassador to the UN claimed that, "(Gedhun) has been put under the protection of the government at the request of his parents." He did not say where Gedhun was being held.

In February 1998, American clerics visiting Tibet were told that Gedhun was in Beijing, but in March 1998, the vice governor of Tibetan Autonomous Region Yang Chuantang told Austrian delegates that he was actually living in Lhari - the place of his birth. In April 1998, a third location was put forward when a British journalist was told that Gedhun was studying, possibly in Gansu Province.

In May 2016, Free Tibet confronted the Chinese Ambassador to the UK during a talk and he was asked directly about Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. He responded only that he was safe and "is just [an] ordinary boy”.

The Chinese government still refuses to reveal Gedhun's whereabouts or respond to requests from the United Nations and Western governments to check on his wellbeing.