We have copyright over Dalai Lama reincarnation: Tibetan govt-in-exile prez

Dismissing Chinese claims on appointing the next Dalai Lama, the president of the Tibetan Government in Exile has said it is Tibetans who have "copyright" over his reincarnation, and Beijing plans to have a "duplicate" copy. 

Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration (Tibetan Government in Exile), said, "Communist party of China has zero credibility, as far as reincarnation is concerned. Communist party believes in atheism. They say religion is poison, why do they want to interfere in our internal affairs?"

Responding to a question from WION at an event, Sangay, the political successor to Dalai Lama, explained, "for almost 1000 years, we the Tibetans have selected our own reincarnate lamas, including the Dalai Lamas. So we have the patent and copyright over the reincarnation. So we are the original and Chinese will have duplicate. Original original hota hai, duplicate, duplicate."

China, possibly keen to increase its influence on Tibetan Buddhism, has said that it will appoint the next Dalai Lama, the 15th in the line of succession. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th one and had to leave Tibet in 1959 after the region was occupied by China. 

Asked if China could do a repetition of Galwan or Doklam border clashes with India, he said,  "Very likely, 60 years ago after they occupied Tibet, they said, once we occupy Tibet as the palm, they will come after five fingers, right? What you saw in Doklam, is one of the five fingers. What you saw in Galwan is one of the five fingers, these kinds of incursions will continue. Ultimately, Chinese government policy is expansionist. These kinds of incidents will keep happening."

The 2020 Galwan incident saw the death of 20 Indian soldiers at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh due to aggressive Chinese actions. In the Doklam incident of 2017, China tried to occupy Bhutanese territory, which was stopped by Indian forces.