China FURIOUS after Dalai Lama’s remarks about successor, claims Beijing's approval must: What more it said
&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "China FURIOUS after Dalai Lama’s remarks about successor, claims Beijing's approval must: What more it said")
The Dalai Lama and Chinese president Xi Jinping Photograph: (Reuters)
Establishing Beijing's authority in picking the 15th Dalai Lama, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that Chinese government's approval is a must. This comes after Dalai Lama sidelined China while revealing who would be his successor
Hours after Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama spoke about his successor on Wednesday(July 2), China said that his successor must be "approved by the Chinese government." Establishing Beijing's authority in picking the 15th Dalai Lama, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, “The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and other great Buddhist figures must be chosen by drawing lots from a golden urn, and approved by the central government.” Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was 23 years old when he fled Lhasa in 1959, fearing for his life as Chinese troops took control of Tibet.
Dalai Lama sidelines China
Earlier today, in a video address from the Himalayan town of McLeod Ganj, the Dalai Lama said that the 600-year-old institution will continue after his death and that he would have a successor after he dies. “I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” he said. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said that after he dies, a foundation appointed by him will choose his reincarnation and stressed that China won't play any role in appointing the 15th Dalai Lama.
Dispute between China and the Dalai Lama
China annexed Tibet in the 1950s. At the time, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee in disguise, and escaping on foot with family members and ministers to India, where they settled as refugees. He established a government-in-exile in the northern city of Dharamshala. The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who fled Tibet for India in 1959, is seen as a separatist by Beijing. In 1995, the Chinese government caused the disappearance of the Dalai Lama’s choice for the successor of the Panchen Lama, the second most important tulku lineage in Tibetan Buddhism, when he was 6 years old. The Chinese government appointed their own Panchen Lama. In 2011, however, the Chinese foreign ministry declared that only the government in Beijing can appoint the next Dalai Lama and no recognition should be given to any other succession candidate.