As his 90th birthday approaches on July 6, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has firmly reiterated that China has no authority in choosing his successor.
He stated that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust, a non-profit body he created in 2015, holds the exclusive right to recognize his future reincarnation.
“The Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” said the Dalai Lama.
In response, China rejected the statement, reaffirming its long-held stance that reincarnations of Tibetan spiritual leaders—including the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama—must be approved by the central government and chosen via a golden urn lottery, a centuries-old Qing dynasty ritual.
“The reincarnation must be approved by the central government,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning insisted.
The dispute reflects ongoing tensions between the exiled Tibetan leadership and Beijing. China has consistently called the Dalai Lama a “separatist”, especially since he fled Lhasa in 1959, following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.
In 2011, the Dalai Lama had said he would decide on July 6, 2025—his 90th birthday—whether the spiritual institution of the Dalai Lama should continue at all, adding urgency and symbolism to this latest confrontation.
