By Krishna N. Das
DHARAMSHALA, India (Reuters) -The Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that a non-profit that he has founded will have the sole authority to recognise his future reincarnation, countering China’s insistence that it will choose the successor of the Tibetan spiritual leader.
The remarks by the leader, who turns 90 on Sunday, came during a week of celebrations to mark his birthday. There was no immediate comment from China.
Beijing views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a separatist. The Dalai Lama has previously said his successor will be born outside China and urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing.
“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in a statement.
He added that the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the non-profit that he set up to maintain and support the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama, has the sole authority to recognise his future reincarnation in consultation with the heads of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
“They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition … no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” the Dalai Lama said.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Shivam Patel; Additional reporting by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Tom Hogue and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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