China’s foreign ministry slammed the Dalai Lama over his claim in his new book, “Voice for the Voiceless,” that the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism will be born outside China, according to news agency Reuters.
The ministry maintained that the leader must adhere to the rules and regulations of the country.
“He has no right to represent the people of Tibet. Reincarnations of the living Buddha, including the Dalai Lama, should abide by the regulations of the country,” the ministry said.
“Reincarnation is a special tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and the name of the living Buddha of Dalai Lama was identified by the central government,” they added.
On being asked about the book at a press conference on Monday (Mar 10), the spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said that the Dalai Lama was “a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion.”
China has made it clear that the Dalai Lama’s opinions won’t influence their stance on Tibet or its development. Beijing insists that the government will select the next spiritual leader, but the Dalai Lama has countered that any successor chosen by China won’t be respected by the Tibetan people.
The Dalai Lama’s successor
In 1959, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, escaped to India along with thousands of Tibetans following a thwarted rebellion against Mao Zedong’s communist regime.
In his book, the leader claims that his successor would be born in “a free world” outside of China,
“The right of the Tibetan people to be the custodians of their own homeland cannot be indefinitely denied, nor can their aspiration for freedom be crushed forever through oppression,” he wrote in an excerpt of his book, as quoted by Reuters.
“One clear lesson we know from history is this: if you keep people permanently unhappy, you cannot have a stable society,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)