The AP has word that the 17-year-old boy Chinese communists installed as the Panchen Lama (after kidnapping the real Panchen Lama and his family) pledged his support for communism in a rare public appearance.

He also, surprise, surprise, said his fellow Tibetans should get with the program. The Panchen Lama is supposed to be chosen by the Dalai Lama, and is second only to the Dalai in Tibet’s religious hierarchy.

In a speech that had all the credibility of an adverstising supplement, Gyalsten Norbu, the usurper Panchen, “vowed to support the (Communist Party of China’s) leadership and make more contributions to the Tibetan economy and social harmony by guiding more religious work to adapt to China’s socialist society,” according to Xinhua, the state’s megaphone.