China furious at Dalai Lama plan to name successor

China furious at Dalai Lama plan to name successor
By Clifford Coonan, China Correspondent
Published: 23 November 2007


China has accused Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of violating the religious rituals and historical conventions of Tibetan Buddhism by suggesting he might appoint a successor before his death instead of relying on reincarnation.

Beijing's latest broadside against the Dalai Lama is a sign of heightening tensions between the central government and the man Tibetans see as a god-king. While reincarnation sounds like an esoteric concept to those of other belief systems, it is a deeply political issue in the isolated Himalayan enclave.

The Dalai Lama said Tibetans would not accept a successor who was selected by China after his death, prompting an angry response from Beijing. "The reincarnation of the living Buddha is a unique way of succession of Tibetan Buddhism and follows relatively complete religious rituals and historical conventions," said Liu Jianchao, a Foreign Ministry spokesman . "Dalai's remarks obviously violated the religious rituals and historical conventions."

The Chinese see the Dalai Lama, 72, as a dangerous separatist. They accuse him of continuing to inspire demands for independence among the 2.7 million Tibetans living in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and refuse to allow him back inside its borders.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3187092.ece

They have kidnapped the authentic Panchen Lama, who was to have been instrumental in selecting the next Dali Lama. They have made him one of the youngest captured and longest held political prisoners, and placed a substitute in his stead, all with the goal of influencing the decision of naming the next Dali Lama to make him a puppet of their ideology.

How is it determined that a person is the reincarnation of the Buhda?

but rather of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

As for the OP, China complaning about the Dalai Lama not upholding Tibetan tradition strikes me as a little hollow.