The Dalai Lama named a six-year-old as Panchen Lama in 1995; the boy disappeared within days and China installed another boy chosen from a golden urn

The 10th Panchen Lama died at Tashilhunpo Monastery on 28 January 1989. Chadrel Rinpoche, the abbot, led the official search for his reincarnation. A list of candidates reached the Dalai Lama in India, probably from Chadrel and his monks, according to historian Jonathan Mirsky. On 14 May 1995 the Dalai Lama named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, aged six. Within days the boy and his parents vanished from their home. On 28 March 1996 Chinese authorities acknowledged holding him. Chadrel Rinpoche was sentenced on 21 April 1997 to six years in prison for "splitting the country." China held a lot drawing from the golden urn on 29 November 1995^† and installed Gyaltsen Norbu in an elaborate ceremony. The golden urn was a Qing court device of 1792 for choosing reincarnations^†. In 2007 a Chinese regulation gave the state power over reincarnations; five UN experts said in 2020 that it discriminates against Tibetan Buddhist practice. On 19 May 2020 China's foreign ministry said Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, then 31, had passed the college entrance exam, had a job, and did not wish to be disturbed. No independent observer has seen him since 1995. Gyaltsen Norbu holds the title in China and spends most of his time in Beijing, AP reported.