On his 90th birthday, His Holiness the Dalai Lama reaffirmed that the Dalai Lama institution will continue, despite increasing anxiety from China. Beijing insists that the reincarnation process is an ‘internal matter’ and treats it as a highly sensitive issue.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has issued a statement affirming that his reincarnation will be determined solely by the Gaden Phodrang Trust, rejecting

Even as the Dalai Lama has called for a ‘middle way’ approach, the Communist Party of China (CPC) cannot come to terms with the idea of co-existing with Tibetans as its totalitarian ethno-nationalist state has no room for a non-Han group or leader — and certainly not for someone like the Dalai Lama whom his followers revere like a god.