The 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is honored with the 2025 Democracy Service Medal. In 1995, when he was just six years old, His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognized him as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama—the second-highest authority in Tibetan Buddhism. Just three days later, Chinese authorities abducted him, making him the world’s youngest political prisoner. Thirty years later, his fate remains unknown. This award affirms Tibetan Buddhists’ fundamental right to choose their own spiritual leaders free of Chinese Communist Party interference and highlights Beijing’s campaign to control Tibetan succession, including that of the Dalai Lama, who turned 90 this year.
The medal is accepted on his behalf by Zeekyab Rinpoche, Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the Panchen Lama’s traditional seat. As a senior spiritual leader in exile, Rinpoche is a prominent voice for Tibetan religious freedom and has spoken out against Beijing’s efforts to erase Tibetan spiritual authority.
The Democracy Service Medal, presented by the National Endowment for Democracy, honors individuals whose personal commitment and lifetime of service have left an indelible mark on the cause of freedom. Past recipients include His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, and congressional leaders of both parties, underscoring that the defense of democracy is a shared American conviction rooted in liberty, justice, and human dignity.
Remarks by Abbott Zeekyab Rinpoche upon accepting the 2025 Democracy Service Medal on behalf of the 11th Panchen Lama:
I am humbled to accept this award on behalf of the 11th Panchen Lama, who is not free to receive it himself since his forced disappearance by the CCP in 1995.
When China invaded Tibet in 1959, the 10th Panchen Lama faced an impossible choice. He chose to remain inside Tibet, believing he could defend his people from within, while His Holiness the Dalai Lama worked tirelessly to protect his people abroad. For his act of courage, the 10th Panchen Lama paid a terrible price: he was imprisoned by Chinese authorities for over a decade, later dying under suspicious circumstances. Before his death in 1989, he authored a landmark report denouncing the immense suffering China had inflicted on the Tibetan people. For speaking truth, he paid with his life.
In 1995, following centuries-old Buddhist tradition, His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognized a six-year-old boy as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. Within days, that child was abducted by China, making him the world’s youngest political prisoner. Thirty years later, the world has still not seen or heard from this child. His fate remains one of the longest-running cases of enforced disappearance in modern history.
One may ask: why is a country as powerful as China so threatened by a child? The answer is simple: the boy embodies a sacred lineage spanning four centuries. He is the second-highest authority in Tibetan Buddhism. He is – or should be – the future leader tasked with helping recognize the next Dalai Lama, who just turned 90 this year. Tibetans say the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama are like the sun and moon—when one sets, the other rises to lead us. To abduct one is to plunge the Tibetan people into darkness. And that is precisely why China took him.
The abduction of the Panchen Lama was not just the kidnapping of a child. It’s Beijing’s attempt to control an entire faith, consistent with Communist China’s total disregard for religious liberty. China believes that by controlling the Panchen Lama, it can one day control the Dalai Lama and, with him, a religion and its people.
We must be clear about what all of this means: if China believes it has the power to disappear a six-year-old spiritual leader; if it believes it can rewrite religious tradition for political gain; if it believes it can decide who people are allowed to believe in —then no person of faith in China is safe. Not Buddhists. Not Muslims. Not Christians. If China can replace authentic Buddhist leaders with CCP-approved substitutes, it will do the same to imams, priests, and pastors.
But here is where Beijing is making a profound error. As people around the world understand, faith is the domain of the sacred. It is foundational to freedom. It cannot be imposed or controlled by a political power.
I once heard His Holiness the Dalai Lama share a story of a Tibetan monk who survived years of torture in a Chinese prison. When asked what he feared most while in prison, the monk did not say pain or death. He said: “I feared losing compassion for my captors.”
That is the power of faith. Authoritarians fear this kind of strength. When people find meaning, dignity, and unbreakable resolve in their beliefs, no prison, no army, and no regime – no matter how powerful – can extinguish it. And that is why, I firmly believe, faith will always prevail over tyranny.
I’d like to conclude by extending my deepest gratitude to the NED Board of Directors, and the U.S. Congress, and all who continue to stand for religious freedom.
A letter from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in recognition of the 11th Panchen Lama receiving the Democracy Service Medal.
