Karishma Vaswani, Columnist

Why China Is Determined to Choose the Next Dalai Lama

Beijing will insist on handpicking the new spiritual leader of Tibet so it can cement the Communist Party’s control of the region.

June 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM UTC

By Karishma Vaswani

Karishma Vaswani is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia politics with a special focus on China. Previously, she was the BBC's lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades.

China wants to control the succession of the Dalai Lama. — China wants to control the succession of the Dalai Lama.
Photographer: Sanjay Baid/AFP/Getty Images

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Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, turns 90 this week. This isn’t just a milestone birthday, it’s an opportunity to define his legacy. Ahead of those celebrations, he’s expected to make a long-anticipated announcement about his heir.

China is determined to shape the narrative around this succession, to prevent the erosion of its grip on Tibet, a mountainous region that it annexed in the 1950s. At the time, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee in disguise, dressing in a Chinese uniform and escaping on foot with family members and ministers to India, where they settled as refugees. He established a government-in-exile in the northern city of Dharamshala, which has advocated for greater freedoms for their homeland.