China warned over picking Dalai Lama reincarnation

The Tibetan government-in-exile based in India on Tuesday warned China of “international pushback” if Beijing moves to appoint the “reincarnation” of the Dalai Lama to help legitimise its rule over Tibet.

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) based at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh sent out the note of warning to Chinese government on a day Beijing started observing 50th anniversary of establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

“If Communist China goes ahead with its plan to pick the reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, there will be an international pushback. The pushback will not only come from the Tibetan people but from millions of Buddhists who traditionally share Tibet’s spiritual heritage and millions more in the rest of the world who have benefited from the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” the CTA said, as it came out with a response to the White Paper the Chinese government brought out  articulating its policy on Tibet.

The CTA’s response came soon after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that he would continue to pursue an “unswerving battle” against separatist activities by the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lamas have traditionally been the supreme spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet. The current and 14th Dalai Lama--Tenzin Gyatso--escaped from Lhasa to India in 1959 in the wake of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s occupation of Tibet.