Dalai Lama Says His Trust Will Appoint Reincarnation; China Says Its Approval Required

New Delhi: The Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, said on Wednesday (July 2) that his office will continue to exist after his death and that only a trust that is part of his office will have a say in approving his reincarnation.

His long-anticipated statement – coming days before he is to turn 90 – is directly aimed at keeping the Chinese government out of the official succession process, as Beijing has maintained that the next Dalai Lama will require its own approval.

"I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," he said in a video broadcast in the Tibetan language from the mountainous town of Dharamshala, India.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was speaking at the start of a meeting of religious leaders in the Himalayan town where he has lived for decades.

The Gaden Phodrang Trust founded by the Dalai Lama will have the sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation, he added.

"They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition ... no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter," the Dalai Lama said.

China, which views the Dalai Lama as a rebel, responded on Wednesday by reiterating its stance that the monk's reincarnation must secure Beijing's approval in order to assume office.

The Dalai Lama fled Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, for India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

Why is this an important decision

Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama since the institution began in 1587. Tibetan Buddhists believe him to be the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. They believe he can choose the body into which he is reincarnated.

In Buddhism, a Bodhisattva means an enlightened being who has chosen to remain in the cycle of life to help others.

In his video message, the Dalai Lama said he had received requests from Buddhists from Tibet, Mongolia, parts of Russia and China, and beyond to ensure the continuation of the institution.

"In particular, I have received messages through various channels from Tibetans in Tibet making the same appeal," he said.

Wednesday's announcement ended years of speculation that the 14th Dalai Lama could be the last to hold the position.

Beijing maintains that successor will need its approval

However, Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong said that the Dalai Lama's successor would need to be selected through the “Golden Urn lottery procedure” and secure Beijing's approval.

Beijing ‘exempted’ the incumbent Dalai Lama from the lottery procedure, Xu said, but his successor “must follow the process that consists of search and identification in China, lot-drawing from the Golden Urn” and have “central government approval”.

He will also need to “comply with religious rituals and historical conventions as well as Chinese laws and regulations”, per Xu, who said that the Chinese government lawfully “protects the tradition of reincarnation of Living Buddhas [among whom is the Dalai Lama]”.

The incumbent Dalai Lama, who earlier said his successor will be born outside China and urged followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing, has dismissed the Golden Urn lottery procedure as lacking “any spiritual quality” and used only once to select a Dalai Lama after it was “imposed” by Manchu officials whose military support the Tibetans sought in the 18th century.

China has meanwhile appointed its own choice of the Panchen Lama – Tibetan Buddhism's second-highest figure – after detaining the Dalai Lama's chosen appointee, a five-year-old boy, in 1995.

India, which has been home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile for 66 years, is of the stance that the monk “is a revered religious leader” who is “accorded all freedom to carry out his religious activities” in the country.

It is publicly cautious in its dealings with the Dalai Lama and has neither commented on the issue of his succession nor has officially recognised the Central Tibetan Administration, but it does not interfere in any lawful activities undertaken by the latter.

The Dalai Lama's succession throws up a number of questions for New Delhi, such as whether it must comment on the matter; if a disagreement between India and China on a reincarnation could spark Chinese distrust and a subsequent foreign policy shift; how India could handle interring the incumbent Dalai Lama's remains; and what response India could have if the Trust's chosen reincarnation is an Indian citizen, as former foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale pointed out in a November paper.

How the Dalai Lama is perceived worldwide

Worldwide, the Dalai Lama is seen as a symbol of non-violence, compassion and the Tibetan struggle against the Chinese rule.

In 2023, he received flak for kissing a child on the lips, for which he apologised.

China views him as a separatist and rebel. Exiled Tibetans are afraid that China will name their own successor to the Dalai Lama in their bid to exert more control over the Tibet Autonomous Region.

With inputs from DW. This article has been updated with more information.

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