Dalai Lama's 'reincarnation' and China's growing concerns: All about battle for Tibet's new spiritual leader

Dalai Lama’s succession plan is politically consequential for most Tibetans who oppose China’s tight control of Tibet

Ahead of his 90th birthday, the Dalai Lama has declared that the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist institution will continue after his death, stressing that the power to identify his reincarnation lies exclusively with India’s Gaden Phodrang Trust.

The Tibetan spiritual leader made the announcement at a prayer celebration – countering China’s insistence that it will select the successor of the Tibetan spiritual leader.

In a statement made on May 21, 2025 in Tibetan language and released by his office in Dharamshala on Wednesday, he said that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has the sole authority to recognise the future Dalai Lama.

"I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue and I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation. No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter," the statement added further.

All about the 14th Dalai Lama

Tenzin Gyatso is the current and 14th Dalai Lama.

Born into a farming family in 1935 in what is now China’s Qinghai province, he was identified at the age of two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. Thereafter, he began his monastic education and training in Buddhist philosophy.

A year after China came under communist rule, the People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet. China annexed the region in 1951, and in 1959, a widespread Tibetan revolt was crushed by the Chinese military.

During the Tibetan uprising in 1959, the Dalai Lama left the country along with a group of followers and never returned. He settled in the Himalayan town of Dharamshala and formed a government-in-exile.

The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and in 2011, he stepped down from his political role in the Tibetan government-in-exile but retained his status as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

How will his successor be chosen?

The search for a new Dalai Lama traditionally commences only upon the incumbent’s death. In the past, the successor has been identified by senior monastic disciples, based on spiritual signs and visions, and it can take several years after the next Dalai Lama is identified as a baby and groomed to take the reins.

In his book Voice for the Voiceless published earlier this year, the Dalai Lama said that “the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world”. He has also stated that his successor could be an adult, and may not necessarily be a man.

The 14th Dalai Lama has also said that the process of finding and recognising his reincarnation lies solely with the Gaden Phodrang Trust — a non-profit he founded in 2015 that oversees matters related to the spiritual leader and the institute of the Dalai Lama.

“No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” he said, adding that the search for a future Dalai Lama should be carried out in “accordance with past tradition."

Why this matters for China?

The Chinese government denounces the 14th Dalai Lama as a “splittist” and “traitor”, asserting he holds no legitimate claim to speak for Tibetans.

Dalai Lama’s succession plan is politically consequential for most Tibetans who oppose China’s tight control of Tibet and have struggled to keep their identity alive, in their homeland or in exile.

On multiple occasions, Chinese officials have mentioned that the next Dalai Lama must be born inside China, and any foreign-born or exile-appointed successor would be considered “illegitimate”, according to a report by Al Jazeera.

In March 2015, then Tibet Governor Padma Choling accused the Dalai Lama of “profaning religion and Tibetan Buddhism,” adding that the Dalai Lama was trying to usurp Beijing’s right to decide.

In trying to take charge of Tibetan Buddhism’s leadership, China seeks to undermine the Dalai Lama’s legacy and eliminate potential threats to Communist Party authority.