The Panchen Lama is the second-highest ranking Lama in Tibetan Buddhism. He bears part of the responsibility for finding the incarnation of the Dalai Lama and vice versa. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama on May 14, 1995. However, the government of the People's Republic of China has named another child, Gyancain Norbu, as such and the Dalai Lama-named Panchen Lama has gone "missing."
See also: History of Tibet