China said Monday that it has never been up to the Dalai Lama to pick his own successor and that Beijing will identify who is the next incarnation of the Tibetan spiritual leader.
The issue has become a key battleground between China's Communist government and the Dalai Lama and his supporters. China reviles the Dalai Lama as a separatist and wants to pick a pro-Beijing successor.
The Dalai Lama insists he is only seeking increased autonomy for Tibet, not independence, and opposes Beijing's involvement in selecting its leaders.
The Dalai Lama and his 13 predecessors have wielded political and religious power over Tibetans for hundreds of years. Each dead Dalai Lama has been thought to be reincarnated in the body of a male child.
Beijing's plan to choose his successor has led the current Dalai Lama to contemplate ideas that break with that ancient system.
From: http://ping.fm/ASzfI
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