China is warning the Dalai Lama he does not have the legal right to decide if he should be reincarnated. The statement comes after the 76-year-old said Saturday he plans decide when he is “about 90” whether he should be reincarnated and that China should have no say in the matter.
The Chinese foreign ministry warned the Dalai Lama Monday that only Beijing can approve his successor.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei says any decision by the Dalai Lama to appoint a successor through traditional reincarnation would break Chinese law. (VOA, readmore)
This is yet another example of Chinese efforts to carry out cultural genocide of the Tibetan people. They would prefer a Tibet filled with Han Chinese raping the natural resources of the Himalayas irrespective of what it does to the 2 billion people downstream of all the rivers and watersheds being destroyed.
The Dalai Lama probably made this statement because of what the Chinese did after the death of the Panchen Lama, the second highest leader in Tibet. After the reincarnated successor of the Panchen Lama was selected as he had been for hundreds of years in Tibet, the Chinese imprisoned the poor boy and then rigged an election of their choice of a Panchen Lama. A recently published memoir by the Arjia Rinpoche, Surviving the Dragon, describes this all very well. Arjia Rinpoche after he was asked to tutor the Chinese version of the Panchen Lama in China, escaped from China and now is at Indiana University; his book is quite the worthwhile read.
Chinese law is irrelevant when it comes to Tibetan religious matters. This kind of human rights abuse continues even though the Tibetan government in exile has said many times that it does not want to be a separate country, but rather have some kind of autonomy within China. Thus, I strongly urge people for this and other reasons to boycott Chinese-made products. This has become more and more difficult as more and more multinational corporations set up factories in China at the expense of American workers, but it is still possible.
Funny image, big bad Chinese General, sitting oin a tank yelling down at monk holding a beging bwl and saying (in Mandarin), “I will shoot you if your reincarnate!”