Premise: Then China rolled out the fake Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, a teenager chosen as the reincarnation of a major lama by the atheist Communist leaders and trained since childhood to spout nationalist slogans while wearing robes. Newspapers reporting on the debacle generally tried to present both sides, but it seems fair to say there's really only one side to this sham and that pretty much nobody in the Tibetan community accepts Norbu as the real Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama's choice for Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, has been in secret Chinese custody since 1995.
Hypothesis: China is smaller than you would think.