(Indian Express, India, July 6, 1999)

Dalai's reincarnation will not be found under Chinese control

DHARAMSHALA: The Dalai Lama, who turns 64 today, says if his successor is chosen in the traditional way, then his reincarnation would not appear in Tibet or areas under Chinese control. "Should people prefer the old system of choosing a reincarnation -- then Dalai Lama's reincarnation will appear in a free country, and not in Chinese hand as the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry the work started by the previous life and yet not fulfilled," reports PTI.

"Logically," he says, "the previous life escaped from Chinese hands so the next life should also be out of Chinese control." On being asked how he would like the next Dalai Lama to be installed and what changes would be beneficial to the system so that a power struggle does not break out after him, the Dalai Lama said as early as 1969 he had made it clear that it was for the Tibetans to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama `should continue or not'.

"It is beyond my sort of responsibility," he says, "there is a possibility and there are different options -- one is based on the system of choosing pope's succesor, another based on seniority, and then the traditional approach of choosing the reincarnation."

Recently, however, Tao Changsong, deputy director of the Tibetan Contemporary Research Centre, Lhasa, who advises the Chinese government on Tibetan policy told " South China Morning Post", a leading Hong Kong paper, the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama would not be chosen among `foreigners'.