The reincarnated soul of the 10th Panchen Lama is expected to be decided soon by drawing lots from a gold urn.

A list of child candidates has been found in accordance with religious rituals and historical convention, according to the Leading Group for Locating the Reincarnated Child of the Panchen Lama.

President Jiang Zemin, who met the group on November 9,expressed his hope that work to locate the child should be completed as soon as possible.

Over the past six years, eminent monks and people from religious circles have worked hard in searching for the reincarnated boy, Jiang said.

He hopes they could make greater contributions to stability and development in Tibet.

Religious representatives of the search group criticized the Dalai Lama for trying to disrupt Tibet's stability and undermine China's national unity through such religious means as soul boy search.

They said they would not recognize the reincarnated boy for Panchen Lama illegally chosen by the Dalai Lama.

The act of the Dalai Lama in choosing the reincarnated child violated the cardinal principles of Buddhism, and his so-called "reincarnated child" therefore failed to meet the conditions for the soul boy, the lamas said.

The consulting group and religious representatives met in Beijing recently, and expressed their appreciation of the great concern shown by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council over the searching effort.

Members confirmed the three candidates for the 10th Panchen Lama, chosen by the Zhaxi Lhunbo Lamasery. They also called for faster confirmation of the soul boy.

Senior lamas of the lamasery said that the search for the reincarnated child reflects the good wishes of the Party and central government for the Tibetan people, as well as their support for development and progress in the Tibetan inhabited areas.

After the 10th Panchen Lama died, the Party and central government allocated a huge sum of money for building a stupa to preserve his remains and the search for the reincarnated boy was launched.

No other Panchen Lama in history has been given so much importance by the central government as the 10th Panchen Lama, said the lamas.

(This article appears on page 5, No. 49, 1995)