By Kyinzom Dhongdue, Strategy and Advocacy Manager, Amnesty International Australia
“China’s intention to appoint its own Dalai Lama – one who will be loyal to Beijing – is a direct assault on the very principle of religious freedom.”
Kyinzom Dhongdue
As His Holiness the Dalai Lama turns 90, he has offered clarity and reassurance to millions of Tibetans and followers of Tibetan Buddhism around the world: there will be a successor. And his office the Gaden Phodrang Trust – not the Chinese Government – has the sole authority for this reincarnation process in line with Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
This declaration, made during a religious gathering in his exile home of Dharamshala, India, is a powerful reaffirmation of a fundamental human right: the freedom of religion or belief.
In response, the Chinese Government doubled down on its claim that it alone has the authority to approve the next Dalai Lama.
Beijing insists the selection must take place within China, using so-called “ancient rituals” tightly controlled by the Communist Party. It is a political power grab – and a blatant violation of international human rights law.
The Dalai Lama’s reincarnation is a sacred matter for Tibetan Buddhists, rooted in centuries of tradition. It is not the domain of any government, least of all a regime that has spent decades systematically eroding Tibetan culture, language, and spiritual practice through repression and surveillance.
China’s intention to appoint its own Dalai Lama – one who will be loyal to Beijing – is a direct assault on the very principle of religious freedom. It is also part of a broader strategy to eliminate Tibetan identity by colonising its spiritual core.
This is not hypothetical
We have seen what happens when China interferes in Tibetan religious affairs. In 1995, the Dalai Lama recognised a six-year-old boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the 11th Panchen Lama – the second-most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
Within days, Chinese authorities abducted the child and his family. Nearly 30 years later, his whereabouts remain unknown.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, and multiple UN Special Rapporteurs have repeatedly called on China to account for his fate. Enforced disappearance is not a one-off crime – it is a continuing violation under international law until the individual’s fate and whereabouts are revealed.
“China’s silence is not only cruel; it is unlawful.”
The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief has made it clear: religious communities must be free to determine their own leadership without state interference. To ignore this is to deny people the right to practise their faith freely.
Tibetans have already made our position clear
The Dalai Lama has said his reincarnation would be born in the “free world” and has urged his followers to reject any successor appointed by the Chinese Government.
As a Tibetan born in exile, I know what it means to grow up without a homeland but with faith as a constant source of strength. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is not only our spiritual guide – he is the embodiment of our hope, our dignity, and our survival as a people.
The idea that the regime responsible for his exile could choose his successor is both absurd and dangerous.
“His Holiness the Dalai Lama is not only our spiritual guide – he is the embodiment of our hope, our dignity, and our survival as a people.”
Inside Tibet today, religious life is under constant siege. Monasteries are surveilled, Tibetans are detained for showing loyalty to the Dalai Lama, and religious education is heavily censored. If China is allowed to install a state-approved Dalai Lama, it will only deepen this repression and sever Tibetans from our spiritual roots.
Amnesty International has rightly described China’s actions as a direct attack on religious freedom. Now, it is time for governments that value human rights, including Australia, to speak out.
The Australian Government must publicly affirm that Tibetan Buddhists have the right to determine their own religious leadership and call for independent access to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who remains one of the world’s longest-serving disappeared persons.
As we celebrate the 90th birthday of the Dalai Lama this weekend, let us not only honour his message of compassion, peace, and justice but also act to defend the rights of the people he represents. Protecting the integrity of his succession is not only a matter of faith – it is a human rights imperative.
To allow the Chinese Communist Party to dictate the spiritual future of Tibet is to deny Tibetans the right to be who we are.
“The world must stand with Tibetans and say clearly: let Tibetans decide.”
Kyinzom Dhongdue is the Strategy and Advocacy Manager at Amnesty International Australia. She was born in a Tibetan refugee camp in India and is an advocate for human rights and freedoms in Tibet. She also previously served as a Member of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile from Australasia.
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