We are original and Chinese will have duplicate: Lobsang Sangay on Beijing claim to appoint next Dalai Lama

New Delhi: Dismissing Chinese claim to appoint the next Dalai Lama, President of the Tibetan Government in Exile said on Friday (April 2) that Tibetans have "copy right" over reincarnation, but Beijing is planning 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. The 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 Zee Media in an event, Sangay, who is the political successor to Dalai Lama, explained, "for almost thousand years, we the Tibetans have selected our own reincarnate Lamas, including the Dalai Lamas. So we have the patent and copyright over reincarnation. So we are the original and Chinese will have a duplicate. Original original hota hai, duplicate, duplicate."

Keen to increase its influence on Buddhism, China has stated 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 the Communist regime. 

Asked if China could do a repetition of Galwan or Doklam incident, he said, "very likely, 60 years ago after they occupied Tibet, they said, once we occupy Tibet as the palm, they will come after 5 fingers right. What you saw in Doklam, is one of the 5 fingers. What you saw in Galwan is one of the 5 fingers, these kinds of incursions will continue. Chinese govt policy is expansionist, therefore, such incidents will keep happening"

The 2020 Galwan incident witnessed the death of 20 Indian soldiers at the Line Of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh due to aggressive Chinese action. In 2017, China tried to occupied Bhutanese territories in Doklam but was stopped by Indian forces.