Voice of America Washington, DC  20237 Tel: (202) 619-2538 Fax: (202) 619-1241 E-mail: pubaff@ibb.gov

Washington, D.C., January 7, 2000 - VOA's Tibetan Service broke the news on Thursday morning that the leader of one of Tibetan Buddhism's most prominent sects, the14-year old "Karmapa", had secretly left China and arrived in northern India.  As VOA's Beijing Bureau put it, "this is one of the most significant defections from China-ruled Tibet in decades" and is reminiscent of the Dalai Lama's similar trek more than 40 years ago.

VOA learned of the defection on Wednesday morning, January 5, from a reliable source in India but could not broadcast it because VOA requires at least a second source to verify reports coming from independent sources.

VOA's Tibetan Service contacted the Karmapa's followers in Woodstock, N.Y. and also the Dalai Lama's U.S. office for details.  VOA's Dharamsala stringer checked with the Dalai Lama's office in India and VOA's Nepal stringer began tracking down whether the Karmapa had exited Tibet via Nepal and overland to India.

VOA received a second confirmation of the defection in time to break the news on its Thursday, January 6, 9:00 a.m. broadcast.  A VOA Tibetan report that evening described how the Karmapa had made it out of Tibet into India, examined the Karmapa's relations with the Chinese government, and analyzed the political implications of the flight to India.  VOA's Beijing Bureau reported the Chinese media were saying the boy had left the country to get musical instruments and hats, and did not mean to betray China.

It was only after VOA broke the story that the world's wire services, newspapers and other media began to carry news of the spectacular defection.

The Karmapa's sect was once Tibet's most politically powerful, but it was supplanted 350 years ago by the Gelugpa school of the Dalai Lamas.  Chinese religious officials installed the boy as the reincarnation of the 17th Karmapa in 1992, over the objections of the disciples of the 16th Karmapa.  Chinese leaders have used him as a symbol of their rule over Tibet.

The Karmapa should not be confused with the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's second highest religious leader.  Chinese authorities continue to sequester the boy endorsed by the Dalai Lama to be the Panchen Lama and have replaced him with their own candidate, who remains in Tibet.

The Voice of America's Tibetan Service broadcasts three hours a day, reaching 60 percent of all Tibetans in Tibet.  Worldwide, VOA broadcasts in 53 languages to 91 million people each week.

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