The Chinese Communist Party’s quest to dominate Tibetan Buddhism continued this week with a press conference on Thursday to assert that the communist regime will control the death of the Dalai Lama and not allow him to reincarnate outside of China.
Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, apologized on Monday after a viral video of him inviting a young boy to “suck my tongue” caused surprise and anger across the world. The Dalai Lama’s office insisted the incident was “innocent and playful.”
Hollywood superstar Richard Gere testified before Congress this week, and made the rounds with lawmakers, to condemn what he called China’s “genocide,” “crimes against humanity” and “longstanding brutality” in Tibet.
Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) fact-checking unit, the Asia Fact Check Lab, thought it might be interesting to ask OpenAI’s famed ChatGPT some questions of political significance to the Chinese Communist Party in Chinese, and see if the answers were different from the bot’s responses in English.
China’s state-run Global Times newspaper marked the Tibetan New Year, known as Losar, on Wednesday with a forceful declaration that the officially atheist Chinese Communist Party must have full control over the selection of the next Dalai Lama, the highest authority in Tibetan Buddhism.
A former senior Chinese Communist Party official said in an interview published Thursday that the totalitarian regime would have the final say on who succeeds the current Dalai Lama, the head of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Dalai Lama has expressed his “sadness” over the death of Pope Benedict XVI, declaring that the German pontiff lived a “meaningful life.”
Police in India’s eastern Bihar state on Thursday detained a Chinese woman accused of spying and threatening the safety of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Chinese Communist government on Monday attempted to hijack the prestige of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) by holding a sideshow webinar at which hand-picked experts in “Living Buddha Reincarnation” agreed the next Dalai Lama should be selected by Beijing, rather than actual Tibetan Buddhists.
The Indian Air Force recently deployed a helicopter to fly the 14th Dalai Lama to India’s disputed border with China.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publically wished the Dalai Lama good health on his birthday on Wednesday, the Times of India reported on Thursday, noting that Modi may have intended the gesture as a signal to Beijing that New Delhi maintains a firm diplomatic footing in the Himalayas despite an ongoing border dispute between India and China along unmarked sections of the mountain range.
Chinese streaming services banned movies and videos featuring actor Keanu Reeves after he appeared in a virtual event hosted by Tibet House U.S., a nonprofit organization funded by the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama. Reeves’ name has also been censored from Chinese social media platforms.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he phoned the Dalai Lama on Tuesday to personally greet him on his 86th birthday in a show of public support for the Buddhist leader, who has been exiled in northern India since 1959 following China’s forcible seizure of Tibet in 1950.
Members of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the government of Tibet in exile, requested that the Indian government aid in vaccinating the Dalai Lama, the top authority in Tibetan Buddhism, against the Chinese coronavirus.
Both houses of Congress passed a bill late Monday allocating $600 in stimulus payments for Americans that also included the text of the Tibet Policy and Support Act, a bill that delineates how the United States should recognize a successor to the current Dalai Lama.
China’s state-run Global Times expressed disappointment with this year’s crop of “anti-China” Nobel Prize nominees in a Friday editorial, although it grudgingly allowed that the World Food Program (WFP) was a “safe choice” for Nobel Peace Prize winner because it would not offend anyone.
China’s state propaganda outlet Global Times published two obituaries for Taiwan’s first democratically elected president, Lee Teng-hui, following his death Thursday disparaging him as a “national sinner” and declaring his death “not a sad news [sic].”
Police in India arrested nine Tibetans, India media revealed on Monday, suspected of planning protests against Chinese Communist Party chairman Xi Jinping. Police have not offered any evidence that those arrested were planning any criminal behavior.
The Dalai Lama said Wednesday that if he is succeeded in his role as Buddhist leader by a woman she must be “attractive,” despite receiving pushback for similar comments he made in 2015.
The Dalai Lama criticized President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda on Thursday, and urged the United States to lead the world in caring for migrant children illegally crossing the southern border.
The Dalai Lama insisted Wednesday that “Europe is for Europeans,” warning that if too many migrants are allowed to stay the continent could become “Muslim” or “African.”
China is paying Buddhists in Tibet to hang photos of Communist Party chief Xi Jinping as a means of subverting the grip the religion has among natives in the repressed province, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Monday.
A new book called Defining India:Through Their Eyes by Sonia Singh includes a conversation with the Dalai Lama in which he said India prevented him from meeting with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in 2014, an excerpt published Wednesday revealed.
The Dalai Lama said Friday that more women are needed in leadership roles because they are more compassionate than men, who are valued instead for their ability to “kill.”
The Dalai Lama played down recent allegations of historic sexual abuse at the hands of Buddhist teachers this weekend, saying that such claims are “nothing new.”
Compare and contrast two religious leaders. Which of these do you think most possesses the wisdom, courage, and conviction you’d hope for from the head of your faith?
The Dalai Lama has told a press conference in Sweden that “Europe belongs to the Europeans”, asserting that refugees should be repatriated so they can rebuild their homelands.
The future of the Dalai Lama, who has received shelter in India since Beijing launched a crackdown on Tibetans nearly 60 years ago, reportedly surfaced as the predominant subject of discussion between China and India at a recent summit as both sides try to mend their tumultuous relationship, according to a report in Indian media this week.
Not content with squeezing an apology from Mercedes-Benz for the crime quoting the Dalai Lama on Instagram, China excoriated the automaker in an editorial at the Communist Party’s People’s Daily on Wednesday, comparing the Dalai Lama citation to quoting Hitler in an automobile ad.
Contents: Mongolia elects new president after highly nationalistic anti-China campaign; India to help construct Mongolia’s first oil refinery; Brief generational history of Mongolia
China’s state-run media is accusing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of stoking “intense nationalism” in the country and taking advantage of anti-Chinese sentiment to amass power in columns published this week. The articles follow a month-long dispute along the mutual border near Bhutan exacerbated by China’s recent haul of major military hardware towards India.
Contents: China bans Winnie The Pooh because Xi Jinping looks like him; Indonesia defies China and renames part of the South China Sea
A delegation of American lawmakers flew to India to meet with the Dalai Lama on Tuesday in a bid to draw attention to the plight of Tibet. The move is likely to annoy China and possibly frustrate President Trump’s effort to develop warmer relations with Beijing.
Contents: Dalai Lama to visit region of northeast India claimed by China; Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet to India in 1959 Lhasa uprising still humiliates China
Students at the University of California, San Diego are protesting an upcoming speech by the Dalai Lama on the grounds that he is an “oppressive figure threatening to divide a unified China.”
Contents: Mongolia’s herders faces a ‘dzud’ weather catastrophe; China punishes Mongolia for Dalai Lama visit during financial crisis
Local Chinese governments on the border with Mongolia have imposed new fees on companies exporting minerals from Mongolia into China, a move that closely follows Mongolia’s warm welcome of Dalai Lama.
President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to take a courtesy call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen last week has alarmed many in American mainstream media, who argue that acknowledging Tsai as a fellow head of state unnecessarily strains relations with communist China.
Chinese communist officials have admitted that diminishing the influence of the Dalai Lama, the highest authority in Buddhism, is their “highest priority” for governing Tibet, as Chinese state media attempts to elevate the profile of a rival, state-approved Buddhism authority.
President Barack Obama met with the Dalai Lama in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, much to China’s disappointment.
