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Yuanyue Dang

Beijing will not recognise the Dalai Lama’s proposal for a foreign successor and will deal with reincarnation according to Chinese law, according to an official scholar on Tibetan Buddhism.
“If the next Dalai Lama is declared to have been reincarnated abroad, I think it is illegal,” Li Decheng, deputy director general of the official China Tibetology Research Centre, told a forum in Beijing on Thursday.
Li said that the concept of a foreign successor to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader “does not conform to religious rituals, historical customs or China’s management methods for the reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhism’s living Buddhas”.
“He cannot be recognised,” Li added.
The forum, organised by the All-China Journalists Association and open to reporters and diplomats, was held to explain the reincarnation system of Tibetan Buddhism’s living Buddhas.
In a book published earlier this month, the Dalai Lama unnerved Beijing by saying that he would be reincarnated as a child born outside China.
The Dalai Lama has been in exile in India since 1959, following an armed uprising that was crushed by the People’s Liberation Army.
Beijing calls him a separatist and accuses him of fuelling social unrest in Tibet in the 1980s and 2008 – accusations that he denies.
As his 90th birthday approaches in July, the debate over his successor is expected to intensify, potentially affecting social stability in Tibetan-populated areas of China, including the Tibet autonomous region and parts of surrounding provinces such as Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu.


On Thursday, Li said that the reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas had historically been “approved by the central government”, referring to the emperor Shunzhi in the early Qing dynasty (1644-1911) who anointed the fifth Dalai Lama.
Another Qing emperor, Qianlong, proposed the “golden urn” method of selecting the reincarnated spiritual leader.
The process involves a search committee identifying a number of candidates. The names of the candidates are written on pieces of paper or tokens and put in a bowl, with an official or lama drawing one candidate’s name to be the successor.
The ruling Communist Party has adopted the “golden urn” as the officially recognised selection process, enshrining it in regulations and banning any interference by foreign individuals and organisations.
“The Dalai Lama reincarnation system is a Chinese system, and he has a mother temple in China, the Drepung Monastery,” Li said.
Although he said it was “too early to discuss this issue”, Li stressed that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation must take place after his death and could not be proposed by himself while he was still alive.
Instead, Li said, the monastery should make a request to the authorities to find the reincarnated child.
Drepung in the Tibetan capital Lhasa is one of the three main monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism, and was once a centre of dissent. Beijing accused more than 300 monks from the monastery of involvement in anti-government protests in Lhasa in 2008.
“If Tibetan Buddhists have such a religious need, Drepung Monastery also has the need and the conditions to handle it. The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama will proceed normally,” Li said.


According to tradition, the next Dalai Lama must also be recognised by the present Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibet’s spiritual hierarchy. His selection was mired in controversy in 1995 when two rival candidates emerged – one backed by Beijing and the other by the Dalai Lama.
Li said the Dalai Lama’s choice of the Panchen Lama 30 years ago was “illegal” and “invalid”.
“As far as I know, he is currently living in a good condition and does not want to be disturbed by others,” Li said, referring to the Dalai Lama’s candidate.
The Chinese foreign ministry said in 2021 that the Dalai Lama’s candidate was living a “normal life”.
If a similar dispute over succession arose after the death of the present Dalai Lama, Li said, the situation would be simple.
“One is legal and the other is illegal,” he said.


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Tibet

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will turn 90 in July. Photo: AP

The Dalai Lama has promised to resolve the reincarnation issue this year. Photo: Reuters

The Dalai Lama (right) pictured with Mao Zedong and the then Panchen Lama in Beijing in 1954. Photo: Xinhua

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Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, pictured at his Himalayan residence on December 20, is the subject of a succession debate. He says he will address it next year after he turns 90. Photo: Reuters

China’s Tibetan Buddhists urged to obey reincarnation rules as Dalai Lama mulls successor

Monks and religious experts attend a meeting in Lanzhou, Gansu province on Tuesday about policies and regulations governing the “reincarnation of living Buddhas” in Tibetan Buddhism. Photo: Weibo/琼布活佛

Controversy around the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama has been a constant source of tension between Beijing and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. Photo: EPA-EFE 

China has ‘natural’ say in choosing next Dalai Lama, Tibet experts tell Beijing forum

The Dalai Lama, who turns 89 this week, has hinted he will consider the issue of his reincarnation when he hits 90. Photo: AP 

The Dalai Lama (centre) is greeted by supporters upon arrival at his hotel in New York on June 23. Photo: AP 

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China

Politics

The Drepung Monastery in Lhasa has the capacity to look for the exiled spiritual leader’s successor under Beijing’s supervision, Tibetology researcher says


The Drepung Monastery in Lhasa has the capacity to look for the exiled spiritual leader’s successor under Beijing’s supervision, Tibetology researcher says.


14th Dalai Lama