In new year message, China's Panchen Lama praises religious policy

Gyaltsen Norbu, the 11th Panchen Lama, attends a Buddhism gathering at the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, December 8, 2015. REUTERS/China Daily

BEIJING (Reuters) - A youth named by China as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, but reviled as a fake by many Tibetans, has praised the Communist Party's religious policies in Tibet in a lunar new year message, saying they made him feel "very happy".

Although officially atheist, China selected Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995 in a drive to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans.