Tibet’s Future at the Crossroads: Realpolitik in a World of Two Dalai Lamas
- Prof. Ralph Weber and Prof. Sriparna Pathak
As the Dalai Lama celebrated his 90th birthday, questions around the future of Tibet emerged in unprecedented ways. In public statements, His Holiness has just reaffirmed the 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama to continue, with the Gaden Phodrang Trust wielding the authority to recognise the future reincarnation. In a message to Beijing, he underscored that no one else shall have any business in this matter. The Chinese government instantly replied that the new Dalai Lama – just like the Panchen Lama “and other great Buddhist figures” – must be chosen through the lot-drawing ceremony with the golden urn “in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations” and be “approved by the central government.” There really is no hiding the irony. The officially atheist Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ruling over the People’s Republic of China (PRC) claims the right and authority to “manage” religious affairs, notably through its United Front Work Department. So far, so good. Yet, as the current exchange shows, the CCP is also comfortable in setting itself up as the final arbiter in a reincarnation procedure that it used to denounce as feudal religious superstition nonsense.
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