Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama holds rare meeting with Chinese leader

Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama, presents a hada to Chinese President Xi Jinping (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP/PA)

The man picked by Beijing as the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism pledged adherence to the ruling Communist Party’s dictates on Friday during a rare face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Gyaltsen Norbu, who is rarely seen in public, met behind closed doors with Mr Xi in Zhongnanhai, the government compound in the centre of Beijing, about 2,300 miles from his home monastery of Tashilhumpo, high on the Tibetan steppe.