Don't Pick Dalai Lama Reincarnation, China Told

Dharamsala: The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), based in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, on Tuesday asked China not to go ahead with its plan to pick the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, saying there would be an international pushback.

"If communist China goes ahead with its plan to pick the reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, there will be an international pushback," the CTA said in a statement.

Its reaction came on the day when Beijing commemorated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet autonomous region in Lhasa.

"The pushback will not only come from the Tibetan people but from millions of Buddhists who traditionally share Tibet's spiritual heritage and millions more in the rest of the world who have benefitted from the teachings of the Dalai Lama," the CTA said.

Reiterating its policy on resolving the issue of Tibet with China through dialogue, it said: "Till now, China has repeatedly rejected the middle-way approach."

"However, if wiser Chinese heads look into the Tibetan proposal of not seeking independence but autonomy for all the Tibetan people under a single administration, they will find in the proposal a solution that respects Tibet's distinct cultural and ethnic identity and that which preserves the territorial integrity, unity and stability of China," it added.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in 1959. India is presently home to around 100,000 Tibetans living here in exile.

The middle-path policy, followed by the spiritual leader, seeks greater autonomy for Tibet rather than complete independence.

The Chinese, however, view the Dalai Lama as a hostile element bent on seceding Tibet from China.

The Tibetan government-in-exile is based in the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala.