Overview
- Thousands of devotees gathered in McLeod Ganj on July 6 for a public peace prayer to mark his 90th birthday.
- He reaffirmed that only his Gaden Phodrang Foundation in Dharamsala may identify the next Dalai Lama, directly defying Beijing’s Golden Urn tradition.
- The Chinese government continues to brand him a separatist and insists it will appoint a successor under its 2007 reincarnation law.
- Senior U.S. and Indian officials publicly backed the exile office’s authority over the selection process for the 15th Dalai Lama.
- The succession dispute intensifies geopolitical tensions over Tibetan spiritual leadership and cultural autonomy.