 When published, its authenticity could not be independently confirmed and Chinese authorities refrained from commenting.Several months later, however, Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, a retired high-ranking government and military official who was in office in Tibet from the early nineteen fifties to 1993, officially criticized the petition without calling into question its authenticity nor criticizing its publication.Following the departure into exile of the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso in 1959, the 10th Panchen Lama was offered the presidency of the preparatory committee for the establishments of the Tibet Autonomous Region.