Hangzhou, China - China's rule over Tibet took center stage at the first World Buddhist Forum here, with Beijing's choice as the next Tibetan spiritual leader making a surprise appearance.
In an address to about 1,000 monks and nuns from around the world on Thursday, the 11th Panchen Lama made clear his loyalties to China's atheist communist rulers who appointed him in 1995.
"Defending the nation and working for the people is a solemn commitment Buddhism has made to the nation and society," said the 16-year-old boy, who ranks second only to the exiled Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism's religious hierarchy.
"In this new era we need to shoulder the historical responsibility of defending the nation and working for the people."
While China's government had hailed the gathering in the lakeside city of Hangzhou that ends Sunday as a showcase of religious harmony and tolerance, sharp political overtones continued with the notable absence of the Dalai Lama.
"If he appears at the forum, he will surely pose a really disharmonious note to the general harmonious tone," the vice-director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Qi Xiaofei, said on Wednesday.
"The Dalai Lama is not only a religious figure but is also a long-time stubborn secessionist who has tried to split his Chinese motherland and break the unity among different ethnic groups."
The Dalai Lama has been living in exile since fleeing his homeland after a failed uprising in 1959 -- nine years after China took control of the region -- and is regarded by Beijing as a major threat despite his 1989 Nobel Peace prize.
The Dalai Lama's own choice as the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, disappeared from public view in 1995 and is believed to have been under a form of house arrest ever since.
"In Europe, we are worried about his state and we try to ask for access to him," Sabine Thielow, president of German Buddhist Union, told Reuters on the sidelines of the forum, "I would be happy if the two boys could meet and exchange their experiences."
Many Tibetans dismiss China's choice as a sham.
On Thursday, one Tibetan Lama shook his head and declined to comment when asked about the Panchen's speech. Another Lama smiled and only said: "It's hard to explain" after a brief moment of silence.
Two other top lamas of Tibetan Buddhism were conspicuously absent from the forum.
The Dalai Lama's absence came as a surprise to Munkhbayar Bataa, 27, a monk from Mongolia who nevertheless said the gathering of monks and nuns from more than 30 countries provided good opportunities to learn.
"I was quite surprised as I actually thought he could be here but it's still good to be able to meet so many monks from different countries," said Bataa.
As monks sipped tea, took photos and chatted excitedly in the eastern city's Great Hall of the People, keynote speakers at China biggest religious meeting since the party seized power in 1949 stressed the need to heed the values of the religion that has its origins in India about 2,500 years ago.
"This meeting is about bringing together all Buddhists no matter from what school of Buddhism and uniting as one heart for peace," said Shi Jianyin, a nun from Taiwan.
China has long claimed that it allows freedom of religion, even though it routinely jails Buddhist monks and nuns as well as Christians who refuse to acknowledge the authority of the Communist Party in religious affairs.
Nevertheless the event illustrated the party's changing attitudes towards religion, even if those motives appear politically motivated, according to some of the delegates.
A photo exhibition is being held at the forum venue, but there were no pictures of either the Dalai Lama or from the chaotic 1966-76 Cultural Revolution when monasteries were closed, statues smashed and religious texts burned.
China has since sought to control but not stifle religion in a society where an ideological vacuum has spawned corruption and eroded ethics in the post-Mao era.
But in the face of rising unrest, China has no qualms about crushing any challenge to its rule, banning the Falun Gong spiritual movement as an evil cult in 1999.
China is less fearful of home-grown Buddhism than other religions, even though many Tibetan monks and nuns have been jailed for their loyalty to the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing accuses of pushing for independence.
Yue Qin, a monk from Macau who teaches 150 students in a monastery in southern China's Guangdong province, said the party was turning to more traditional Chinese values because it had to.
"The government knows that young people in China have lost the traditional values. And so through this forum they want more people to start paying attention to Buddhism -- and this will be a benefit for all of China," he said.