China is accelerating an elaborate strategy to co-opt the reincarnation of one of the world’s best-loved and most deeply revered spiritual leaders, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.  The Dalai Lama is the most important religious and secular figure for the Tibetan people and is central to the future of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.

Newly discovered, internal CCP briefings reveal that Beijing has developed a public relations strategy targeting Western governments and media outlets involving a plan to end international support for Tibet in what they term the ‘post Dalai era’. Part of this plan includes installing their own Dalai Lama candidate.

China views control over Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation as a critical component in its efforts to secure authority in Tibet, eliminate Tibet’s linguistic, cultural, and religious identity, and build influence and dominance across the Buddhist world. A precedent was set in 1995 by Beijing’s seizure and disappearance of the young boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, recognised by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, and the installation of their candidate, Gyaltsen Norbu.

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