Japan Buddhist Conference condemns China for claiming authority to choose next Dalai Lama

The delegation said they felt that China does not believe in religion. However, they have been intervening in Tibetan religious matters.

Japan Buddhist Conference for World Federation Secretary General Mizutani Eikan has condemned China for interfering in the selection of Tibetan incarnate Lamas and claiming authority to appoint the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama, Central Tibetan Administration reported. The condemnation came after Mizutani Eikan and Itoh Einin visited the office of Tibet in Japan and met with representative Arya Tsewang Gyalpo.

Mizutani Eikan handed over the original statement in Japanese to Arya Tsewang Gyalpo and stated that the members of the conference had been meeting and discussing the issue, as per the report. The delegation said they felt that China does not believe in religion. However, they have been intervening in Tibetan religious matters and is even claiming authority to choose the next Dalai Lama. "This is a total insult to the religious community worldwide, especially Buddhists. The members have decided that time is ripe to issue a statement to make our stance clear and request the Chinese authority to let the Tibetans practice religion freely and stop interfering in the selection of the next Dalai Lama," Central Tibetan Administration quoted Mizutani as saying.

According to the Central Tibetan Administration, the statement said, "We, the Japanese Buddhist, believe that the Tibetans should decide the succession of the Dalai Lama based on Tibetan Buddhist culture and history. The national policy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) is communism, and communism is based on the principle of non-religion. Therefore, it is a contradiction to allow people who don't believe in religion to decide who the country's religious leader will be." Mizutani Eikan said that the monks and people of Japan have great respect for Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism. He said that Japanese people will never accept any Dalai Lama chosen by the leadership of Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to the report.

Meanwhile, Arya Tsewang Gyalpo the delegation for their initiative in voicing their concern and called on China not to interfere in Tibetan religious matters, Central Tibetan Administration reported. He said the action of the Japan Buddhist Conference will warn the Chinese leadership that the world is watching, and it would also encourage other religious bodies to release a statement to deter Beijing from interfering in Tibetan religious matters with impunity. Earlier, China condemned the Tibetan spiritual leader 14th Dalai Lama's visit to Sri Lanka as Beijing wanted to strengthen its position in the reincarnation debate on the next Dalai Lama. China also wanted global Buddhist support during the selection of the future Dalai Lama, Tibet Rights Collective (TRC) reported.

Earlier, Charge d'affaires Hu Wei of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka stated that "the government and people of China including in the Tibet Autonomous Region strongly oppose any foreign country to receive the Dalai Lama in any name". According to Tibetan Rights Collective, China has stepped up its Buddhist outreach to Sri Lanka, which remain a major Buddhist nation and is also being targeted by Beijing under its Debt-Trap Diplomacy. (ANI)

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