CCP hijacks Tibet’s Kalachakra ceremony

Beijing is undermining Dalai Lama’s influence and reshaping Tibetan religious identity.

- KHEDROOB THONDUP

Beijing is using its appointed 11th Panchen Lama to perform the Kalachakra initiation as a strategic move to legitimize its control over Tibetan Buddhism and undermine the Dalai Lama’s spiritual authority.

For the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), religion in Tibet is not merely a matter of faith—it’s a battleground for loyalty. The Kalachakra initiation, one of the most sacred and complex rituals in Tibetan Buddhism, has historically been conferred by the Dalai Lama. By orchestrating this ceremony through Gyaltsen Norbu, the Panchen Lama handpicked by Beijing, the CCPaims to reshape Tibetan religious identity under itsown ideological framework.