A Tibetan youth named by China as the 11th Panchen Lama is too young to be a parliament deputy, a spokesman said, quashing speculation he would soon become the country's youngest cabinet minister-level official.
China's atheist Communists and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in 1995 chose rival reincarnations of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
Sources had said Beijing's choice, Gyaltsen Norbu, who turned 18 last month, could become a member of the elite Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, or parliament, as early as this month.
But parliamentary spokesman Jiang Enzhu said on Tuesday that the youth was not 18 when elections were held.
"According to our country's laws and regulations, members of the National People's Congress must be at least 18 years old," Jiang Enzhu told a news conference.
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