'Must be Beijing-approved': China reacts to Dalai Lama's succession announcement

'Must be Beijing-approved': China reacts to Dalai Lama's succession announcement

China has insisted that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama must be approved by its central government.

The statement came shortly after the Dalai Lama said he will have a successor, born outside China, and that his non-profit institution will have the sole authority to identify his reincarnation.

In response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, "The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama...must be chosen by drawing lots from a golden urn, and approved by the central government."

'Gaden Phodrang Trust will identify my successor'

The Dalai Lama, in a video message, said his Gaden Phodrang Trust will identify his reincarnation in consultation with Tibetan Buddhist leaders.

He stressed that no one else has the authority to interfere in this matter.

"I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue," he said.

The Gaden Phodrang Trust is a non-profit organization established by him to preserve and promote the Dalai Lama tradition and institution.

What the Tibetan leaders said

While the succession has been affirmed, Samdhong Rinpoche, a senior official of the Gaden Phodrang Trust, said that the Dalai Lama hasn't given any written instructions on his succession yet.

The successor can be of any gender and nationality and isn't restricted to Tibet.

Penpa Tsering, leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan government-in-exile in India), said that if health permits and no restrictions from China exist, the Dalai Lama would also consider visiting Tibet.

Tenzin Gyatso became Dalai Lama in 1940

Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama can pick the body into which he is reborn, which has occurred 14 times since the institution's inception in 1587.

In 1940, Tenzin Gyatso became the Dalai Lama's 14th reincarnation.

In the past, he has been split about whether or not to keep the 600-year-old institution going, even suggesting a girl successor or that there might be no successor at all.

But he has always insisted that his successor would be born outside China.

China's stand on Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama fled to India from Tibet in 1959 following a failed revolt against Chinese control in Tibet

After escaping, the Nobel Peace Prize winner established a government-in-exile in Dharamshala, India, which has been viewed as an alternative source of power by individuals who oppose Beijing's tight rule over Tibet.

Beijing sees the Dalai Lama as a separatist, even though he has long pushed for a "middle way" to settle the issue of Tibet's status: real self-rule within China.