'Internal Matter': China Warns India to Not Interfere in Dalai Lama Reincarnation Process

New Delhi: China on Saturday (May 23) warned India to not interfere with the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation process as it was an “internal matter”. 

China also hoped that India would not provide a platform for activities advocating for Tibetan independence, it added.

Yu Jing, Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, shared these stands in a post on social media platform X.

The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama follows “long-established religious rituals and historical conventions that have, for centuries, required the approval of China’s central government”, said Jing, adding that the current Dalai Lama himself – the 14th – was recognised through this “established process”.

“The issue of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation is purely an internal matter of China and should not be subject to external interference,” she wrote. “The so-called “Central Tibetan Administration” is not recognized by any sovereign country, and its leadership has neither the legitimacy to represent the Tibetan people nor the authority to make claims regarding the reincarnation process.”

India has made clear commitments on issues relating to Tibet, the post read. 

“It is sincerely hoped that India will continue to honor these commitments, refrain from providing any platform for activities advocating “Tibetan independence,” and avoid interference in the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama,” Jing said. “Such an approach would contribute positively to the overall stability and constructive development of our bilateral ties.”

The Dalai Lama, in a statement on July 2, had said that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has the “sole authority” to recognize future reincarnation and that “no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter”.

In response, China, which considers the Dalai Lama a separatist figure, had said that any reincarnation must receive approval from Beijing.

Right after that, and in a first, India’s minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju - a practising Buddhist - had responded publicly on July 3 to the Dalai Lama’s statement, telling PTI that people who follow the Dalai Lama feel that the incarnation has to be decided by the established convention and as per the wish of the Dalai Lama. 

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