SEOUL, South Korea — Tibet’s Dalai Lama said Wednesday he will reincarnate after his death, but that only his India-based organization has authority to appoint his successor — a clear jab at Beijing, which has insisted that officially atheist China will choose the next Buddhist spiritual leader.
Speaking at prayer celebrations in India, where he lives in exile, the 89-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winning religious figure said the next Dalai Lama should be found and recognized under the sole auspices of the Gaden Phodrang Trust — a nonprofit he founded in 2015 to oversee the religious office.
“No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” he said in a statement shared at the gathering, adding that the search for a future Dalai Lama should be carried out in “accordance with past tradition.”
His long-awaited succession plan was welcomed by Tibetans in exile and by many among the 6 million Tibetans who live under China’s authoritarian control.
Tenzin Gyatso became the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in 1940. He fled Tibet when Chinese troops crushed a U.S.-backed uprising in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 1959 and has been living in the town of Dharamshala in India since, helping establish a democratic government-in-exile while also traveling the world to advocate autonomy for the Tibetan people.
Seen by his worshippers as a living manifestation of the Buddhist god of compassion, the Dalai Lama is viewed as a problematic separatist by China’s communist leaders.
With a succession process now in play, Chinese media Global Times shot back on Wednesday, stating: “The reincarnation of Living Buddhas must adhere to the principle of [Chinese] government oversight.”
Beijing has emplaced its own succession system.
A key figure in appointing a new Dalai Lama is the Panchen Lama. Two such figures were named, both in 1995.
One is Gedhun Cheokyi Nyima, appointed by the exiled Dalai Lama, whereabouts unknown. The other is Gyaincain Norbu, appointed by Beijing.
There is a possibility of two separate Dalai Lamas being named after the incumbent dies.
Religious freedom, sovereign rights and geopolitics intersect in the issue.
In addition to keeping the flame of Tibetan culture alight, the 14th Dalai Lama has gained worldwide affection as a voice of wisdom and exemplar of kindness, tolerance and nonviolence.
His global stature has irked Beijing, which has deployed diplomatic pressure against countries that allow him to visit.
Meanwhile, the Tibetan Plateau — dominated, but not entirely controlled, by Beijing — has gained ever-increasing geostrategic significance.
Dalai Lama speaks up
The Dalai Lama shared his statement in an English-language translation released Wednesday on his official website.
The original was published in the vernacular on May 21, but was likely released in English Wednesday to coincide with an upcoming conference of Tibetan Buddhists in Dharamshala, Dorjee Tseten, a member of the pro-Dalai Lama Tibetan Parliament in Exile, told The Washington Times.
The “Statement Affirming the Continuation of the Institution of Dalai Lama” notes that in 2011, the incumbent pledged that when he reached 90, he would decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or be abolished.
With his 90th birthday on Sunday, the time for a decision had come.
The Dalai Lama oversees Tibetan Buddhism, a format of the religion prevalent in Tibet and Mongolia and followed in various parts of the Himalayas and communities across the world.
The statement reported that over the last 14 years, exile organizations, NGOs and individual Buddhists from across the Himalayas, Mongolia and Russia — and from China and Tibet — have requested the institution’s continuity.
As a result, “I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the 89-year-old said in his statement.
The Gaden Phodrang Trust — officially, “The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama” — will have “sole authority” in finding and naming the successor.
Beijing, which oversees religious activities via its State Administration of Religious Affairs, differs.
“From the perspectives of national sovereignty and governmental authority, the central government exercises an approval and conferral system for the reincarnations of influential Living Buddhas,” Li Dechang, a research fellow with the China Tibetology Research Center, wrote in a commentary published in state media Global Times on July 2. “This reflects the state’s sovereignty over regions such as Xizang and its authoritative role in the recognition of reincarnations.”
The struggle for Tibet’s soul
Exiled activists say Tibetan resistance continues.
“We know that over 155 Tibetans have self-immolated since 2009 across Tibet — monks, nuns, elders, students,” Mr. Tseten said via telephone. “They have called for his Holiness the Dalai Lama, for freedom, and have protested against ongoing Chinese occupation.”
In its most recent attempt to break national spirit, Beijing is de-culturing Tibetan children as young as 4 years old by placing them in boarding schools, activists say.
With the Dalai Lama — who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 — attached to nonviolence, activists plead for the world to speak up.
“It is important for the international community, and for governments, to take action diplomatically and publicly in response to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s statement, and to reject interference from China,’ Mr. Tseten said. “At the core, is freedom of religion.”
There are other issues.
In the decades since China’s annexation, the Tibetan Plateau — “The Roof of the World” — has gained ever-increased geopolitical significance.
It is dominated, but not entirely held, by China. Chunks of the plateau are held by India, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
Even so, its Chinese-occupied terrain provides Beijing with a buffer zone against potential future conflicts with India.
It is also home to strategic resources, including uranium and lithium. And with futurists warning of “water wars,” the area is the source of rivers that flow into South and Southeast Asia, including the Ganges, Indus and Mekong.
Despite Beijing’s muscle, NGO Tibet Action believes spirituality will, eventually, conquer.
“It is [the Dalai Lama’s] unmatched moral authority alongside the unwavering loyalty of the Tibetan people to him, that makes the Chinese Community Party determined to control his future reincarnation,” Gyal Lo, an activist and academic said in a message emailed to reporters. “The institution of the Dalai Lama, which is nearly 630 years old … will outlive the CCP as well.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.