he Dalai Lama recently implied that he would be the last person to hold his position.
After his death, there would not be another - because the Dalai Lama would not be reborn
in China unless Tibet is free from Chinese rule.
China disagrees and is calling on the Dalai Lama to respect the historic custom of reincarnation.
There’s a lot to explain in there, but let’s first look at the relationship between China
and Tibet.
This is China and Tibet is here.
The Tibetan people are a unique ethno-cultural group, and this is the area that many Tibetans
think of as their homeland.
China, who currently controls the area, only recognizes this section as being Tibet.
They call it the Tibet Autonomous Region and like to represent it as just that; an autonomous
region of China under Tibetan authority with an ethnically Tibetan chairman in charge.
But in reality, an ethnically Chinese branch secretary of the Communist Party is the real
authority there and many Tibetans argue that the Tibet Autonomous Region isn’t autonomous
at all.
It’s simply an occupied area under Chinese rule.
And they have compelling reasons to argue that point.
Tibet had independent rule under the authority of the previous 13th Dalai Lama and other
Tibetan Buddhist leaders in the beginning of the 20th century.
In the 1940’s, China took over.
Then, after the Communist Revolution, the People’s Republic of China invaded and incorporated
Tibet in 1951.
They did this by ousting the old Chinese Government, installing the current 14th Dalai Lama as
the new leader of Tibet, and getting him to sign the Seventeen-Point Agreement.
He was 15 at the time, and the agreement was supposed to guarantee Tibetan regional autonomy
and the respect of Buddhism in the region.
This was in exchange for allowing China to set up civilian and military headquarters
inside Tibet.
The Dalai Lama has since repudiated this deal.
He was also involved in the 1959 Tibetan Uprising that ended with 80,000 Tibetans, including
himself, fleeing the country for Northern India.
They live there today in exile and still campaign for Tibetan freedom.
They fear that China is intentionally undermining Tibetan culture and way of life by encouraging
mass Han Chinese migration to Tibet, building up industry there, and systematically pillaging
Tibet’s resources.
They also accuse China of human rights violations and widespread persecution of the Tibetan
people.
On top of all of this, China also has a history of undermining the Buddhist Religion.
The Dalai Lama is both a political figure and a holy figure in Buddhism.
He’s the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama and was identified as such, as a boy
for his ability to recognize items owned by the previous Dalai Lama.
Buddhism also has the The Panchen Lama, who’s the second most important figure in Tibet's
spiritual hierarchy.
He also plays a role in finding the next Dalai Lama.
In 1995, the Dalai Lama identified a boy as the new Panchen Lama, but the Chinese Government
detained the boy and he hasn’t been seen since.
China also installed their own choice for the Panchen Lama, but he’s not accepted
by most Tibetans.
With all of that in mind, you can see why the Dalai Lama would want to get the word
out ahead of time about his not reincarnating in China.
When the Dalai Lama passes on, there is reasonable concern that China will try to install their
own representative in his place, which would obviously be detrimental to the fight for
Tibetan freedom.
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