China forces folly and brutality on TIbet. (conflict in naming of child reincarnate of 10th Panchen Lama)(Editorial)

In one of its most brazen religious assaults against Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese officials in November named a 6-year-old, Gyaicain Norbu, as the reincarnation of Tibet's second-holiest monk, the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in January 1989.

The move directly challenged the Dalai Lama, who in May had selected another 6-year-old boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the new Panchen Lama. The act is the rough equivalent of the Chinese government leadership's choosing the next pope to head the Catholic church.

It would be wrong to view what is going on between China-and Tibet as…