'Damned lies': Tibetan official slams China for 'hijacking' Dalai Lama succession process

A Dalai Lama representative to India on Wednesday criticised the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at length over its interference in the selection process to appoint a new successor to His Holiness.

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According to Dhundup Gyalpo, Bureau Secretary (New Delhi) for the Dalai Lama, the Chinese Communist Party's actions essentially “reduced this inviolable spiritual system (the Tibetan Dalai Lama selection process) to nothing more than a state-controlled lottery”.

His comments come amid the CCP's insistence that the golden urn—a Qing dynasty ritual in which names are drawn, lot-style, from a ceremonial urn—was the only legitimate method to recognise reincarnated lamas. The CCP had also insisted that the final selection was subject to its express approval.

Dismissing the ‘lot-drawing’ as a “distorted version” of the traditional Tibetan dough-ball divination method—historically used when a candidate was doubted, or multiple candidates emerged—Gyalpo explained that China's demand was an attempt to “hijack” the sacred Tibetan selection process: an example of “colonial-style authority”.

In a strong statement made ahead of His Holiness' 90th birthday on July 6, the 14th Dalai Lama affirmed that "the institution of the Dalai Lama would continue" and the Gaden Phodrang Trust (the foundation he founded), would be the only one with the authority to recognise future reincarnations.

"No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter," he said, in a translated X post.

He also referenced the issue in a video message on Wednesday, following the start of a three-day religious conference of top Tibetan Buddhist monks, the Dalai Lama spoke about his succession, referring to a September 2011 statement, where he had said that "concerned people should decide whether the Dalai Lama's reincarnations should continue”.

“Unrefuted lies, when repeated often, become accepted as facts,” Gyalpo explains in his post, using historical evidence to prove the illegitimacy of the Chinese method.

“While both China and Tibet have been profoundly influenced by Buddhism originating in India, each has developed its own distinct Buddhist traditions. Chinese Buddhism, or 'Han Buddhism', does not include a reincarnation system, which is unique to Tibetan Buddhism ... After China's occupation of Tibet, the Chinese government implemented policies aimed at Sinicizing Tibetan Buddhism, which involved removing Indian and Tibetan cultural elements that had been integrated into the region. These policies, presented as "laws," effectively represented the self-granted authority of colonial rulers, deviating from both traditional Chinese culture and Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism, therefore, rejected these regulations,” he explained.

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The succession dispute has also sharpened Beijing-New Delhi tensions, especially since India granted asylum to the 14th Dalai Lama after he fled Tibet. More than 100,000 Tibetans live in exile in India. While New Delhi officially recognises Tibet as a part of China, it also allows the Tibetan government in exile to operate out of Dharamshala.