Overview

• He declared that the Dalai Lama institution will persist and that a fifteenth Dalai Lama will be appointed after his passing
• He reaffirmed that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust can recognize his successor, excluding any other authority
• The statement, issued days before his 90th birthday in Dharamsala, India, follows the succession review process he outlined in his 2011 communique
• China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning insisted that Beijing’s regulations and the Qing dynasty golden urn ritual govern Tibetan reincarnations
• The move intensifies long-running Sino-Tibetan tensions over spiritual authority and deepens exiled Tibetans’ concerns about a Beijing-backed candidate