Ahead of his 90th birthday celebration, the Dalai Lama has confirmed that he will have a successor after his death.
Ending years of speculation, the spiritual leader revealed that his inheritor will be chosen in accordance with "past tradition."
On Wednesday, July 2, in a video message to his followers, the Dalai Lama said the Gaden Phodrang Foundation, which he established to preserve the institution, will have the power to recognise his future replacement.
Tibetan Buddhist leaders will search for his successor, emphasising that "no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter."
The Tibetan writer and activist Tenzin Tsundue, while speaking to Al Jazeera, called the 14th Dalai Lama's remarks a "punch in the face" for China.
This is because the country has claimed that it has the power to appoint the Dalai Lama's successor as it governs the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, whom China has branded as a "separatist," has previously warned Beijing not "to meddle in the system of reincarnation of lamas, let alone that of the Dalai Lama."
He made the comments during a three-day religious conference in Dharamshala, the northern Indian town where he has been based since 1959, when he fled Tibet for India after a failed uprising against China.
Notably, the Dalai Lama will be celebrating his 90th birthday on Sunday, July 6, 2025.
