China on Friday (July 4, 2025) objected to the remarks of Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju that the Dalai Lama should choose the successor as per his wish. China called upon India to work carefully on issues related to Tibet, so that it does not affect the improvement in bilateral relations.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning while answering a question asked about the comments of Kiren Rijiju said in a press conference here that India should be clear towards the 14th Dalai Lama’s anti -China separatist nature and should respect its commitments on issues related to Shijang (Tibet). China mentions Tibet in the name of Shijang.
Mao said that India should be careful in its words and actions, should stop interfering with China’s internal affairs on issues related to Shijang and avoid issues affecting the improvement and development of China-India relations.
Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday that the decision on the next Dalai Lama will be taken only by the established institution and the Dalai Lama. He said that no one else will be involved in this decision. This is the first response of a senior government official to the Dalai Lama’s comment on his successor.
The Tibetan spiritual guru Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that the Dalai Lama institution will continue and only the ‘Gaden Fodrang Trust’ would have the right to recognize his successor. Kiren Rijiju’s remarks came after rejecting the succession scheme of China’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Dalai Lama and stressed that the future successor should get its approval.
Buddhist followers Kiren Rijiju and his fellow Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh will represent the Government of India at the ceremony to be held on July 6 on the occasion of Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday at Dharamshala. Kiren Rijiju said that the birthday celebration is a religious event and it has nothing to do with politics.
Mao reiterated the attitude of China that the Dalai Lama and the second largest religion guru of Tibetan Buddhism, ‘Panchan Lama’, should be in accordance with the domestic process, fate letter extracted from ‘Swarna Kalash’ and the approval of the Central Government according to strict religious rituals and historical traditions. He said that the current 14th Dalai Lama had gone through this process and the then central government had approved him.
Mao said that while choosing the successor of the Dalai Lama, those principles should be maintained and followed religious rituals, historical traditions, Chinese laws and rules. Mao’s comments related to improvement and development in relations refer to efforts to normalize relations from both India and China after a deadlock for more than four years after Eastern Ladakh deadlock.
Last year, after the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, the relationship between the two countries was restored, after which several high -level meetings were held.