Gyantsen played a significant role in Tibetan history as the one-time regent of the present (14th) Dalai Lama.

On 26 January 1940, Gyantsen requested the Central Government of China to exempt Lhamo Dhondup from lot-drawing process using Golden Urn to become the 14th Dalai Lama.

[6] The episode exposed a number of the political dimensions of the religious hierarchy in Lhasa.

Critics of the fifth Reting Rinpoche accused him of widespread corruption, and involvement with married women as a monk.

[7] Defenders alleged that his imprisonment was partly the result of his attraction to the teachings of the Nyingma lineage, a politically sensitive orientation,[8] and that the case against him had been fabricated by the cabinet minister Kapshopa.