The European Union in a recent reply to the question of its stand on China’s intervention in His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s succession, it has reiterated its opposition. EU has clearly explained that they expect China to respect the spiritual leader’s succession according to the traditional standards of Tibetan Buddhism as they clarified before.

MEPs Petras Auštrevičius, Aušra Maldeikienė, Hannes Heide, Francisco Guerreiro, and Petra De Sutter raised the question on EU’s position on the issue of Chinese interference and Dalai Lama’s reincarnation and therefore what was the EU’s stand on the matter. They requested Mr. Joesp Borrell, the EU Foreign Affairs Chief and Vice President of the European Commission, for a written answer to the question.

Mr. Borrell replied that their position remains same with regard to the matter. He told that the EU has consistently indicated in the framework of bilateral dialogues on human rights with China, it expects China to respect the Dalai Lama’s succession, in accordance with Tibetan Buddhist standards.

“The European Union has regularly expressed concerns about restrictions on freedom of religion or belief and has called on China to respect the rights of persons belonging to minorities, in particular in Xinjiang and Tibet. This position was publicly expressed in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly and was also raised bilaterally in contacts with the Chinese authorities. In the framework of the human rights dialogue between the EU and China, the European Union has consistently indicated that it expects China to respect the Dalai Lama’s succession, in accordance with Tibetan Buddhist standards. This position was also recalled at the previous meeting on 1 April 2019. The European Union will continue to express its position on this issue.” said the reply by the EU as published in English by Central Tibetan Administration.

Over the recent past, China has expressed their intentions as well as authority in the recognition of the next Dalai Lama. The Tibetan spiritual leader has also clarified that “in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country [India], one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect [the one chosen by China].”

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