The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the Dalai Lama yesterday for suggesting that his successor as Tibet's spiritual leader might be chosen by referendum, saying that this would "violate religious rituals."
The Dalai Lama has been considering options for choosing his successor, saying that senior lamas could follow Vatican practice and elect one of their number to succeed him, or that Tibetans might want to do away with the institution altogether. He has also mooted a referendum.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (
"The Chinese government has a policy of religious freedom and respects Tibetan Buddhism's religious rituals and historic conventions," Liu told a regular news conference.
"The Dalai Lama's related actions clearly violate established religious rituals and historic conventions and therefore cannot be accepted," he said.
Traditionally, a Dalai Lama's death provokes a search for his reincarnation among children born in Tibet at the same time. Many Tibetans fear the death of the current Dalai Lama, now 72, would be a major setback in their fight for more autonomy within China or independence, creating a leadership vacuum that Beijing could be expected to exploit.
In hopes of circumventing this, the Dalai Lama has long suggested that his reincarnation be sought outside China. More controversially, he also suggested in Japan this month that his successor could be chosen before his death.
"Anyone who tries to disrupt Tibet's stability and development will not have the support of the people and will not succeed," Liu said.
Meanwhile, nearly 200 people rioted last week outside a local government headquarters in Tibet, protesting over the police detention of two Buddhist monks accused of robbery, state media reported yesterday.
The crowd of ethnic Tibetans, which included monks, gathered at the Paingar township government office in western Tibet on Nov. 20, destroying some of the buildings there as well as nearby shops, Xinhua news agency said.
Three monks had allegedly robbed a motorcycle maintenance shop that day and police had detained two of them, Xinhua said, citing local officials.
Aside from the two monks accused of robbery, five of the 190 people who rioted were also detained, Xinhua said.
Local police and government officials refused to comment when contacted yesterday.
According to Radio Free Asia's Web site, police fired warning shots after they arrived at the motorcycle shop and later detained two monks named Yeshi Thokme, 15, and Dhondup Dorjee, 16. Another monk, Tsering Gyaltsen, 14, was left behind after being beaten by police for wearing a photograph of the Dalai Lama around his neck.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese