News and Views on Tibet

38 EU lawmakers back Dalai Lama’s authority on succession

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Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, addresses the European Parliament in Brussels on December 4, 2008 (Photo/Reuters)

Tsering Dhundup

DHARAMSHALA, July 8: 38 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from 15 EU countries have called on China to refrain from interfering in the selection of the next Dalai Lama and issued a joint appeal published in EU observer on Friday. 

The op-ed, signed by MEPs from across four major political groups of the European Union, S&D, EPP, Greens, and Renew Europe, urges the European Union to consider targeted sanctions against Chinese officials involved in undermining the religious rights of Tibetans.

The initiative comes just two days after His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama released a public statement affirming that the centuries-old institution of the Dalai Lama will continue and that any decision regarding his succession rests solely with him and the Gaden Phodrang Trust, based in Dharamshala, India. The spiritual leader strongly reiterated that no government, including the People’s Republic of China, has the authority to determine the next Dalai Lama.

The lawmakers cite the European Parliament’s resolution of May 2025 and the recent EU-China Human Rights Dialogue as indicators of Europe’s commitment to defending the religious freedom of Tibetans. Both actions explicitly oppose any Chinese interference in the succession of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders.

The article warns that Beijing’s moves to impose its own Dalai Lama successor, likely through its “golden urn” method and under Chinese legal frameworks, represent a direct violation of religious freedom and a dangerous precedent. 

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning recently reiterated that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama “must abide by national laws,” reaffirming Beijing’s claim of control over the religious process.

“This is not merely a Tibetan issue,” the MEPs wrote. “It is a test of the international community’s commitment to religious freedom.” They emphasised that the EU must make it clear that any Chinese officials involved in attempting to control the Dalai Lama’s succession could be sanctioned under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, also known as the “European Magnitsky Act.”

The op-ed further urges the Chinese government to return to the negotiating table with the Dalai Lama’s representatives. The Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy, proposed by the Tibetan side in 2008, remains a viable foundation for peaceful resolution, the lawmakers argue. 

They concluded with a call for the EU to stand by the Tibetan people, safeguard their religious freedom, and actively support the Dalai Lama’s legacy of non-violence and dialogue.

One Response

  1. The Tibetan people sincerely thanks the 38 European Law makers for standing up to the sanctity of religion, sensitivity of religious believers and the religious freedom enshrined in the UN Charter! The Chinese communists are self-proclaimed atheist regime because of its anti-religious communist ideology! When Tibet was illegally and brutally occupied by the Chinese communist regime, its propaganda boasted that “they had separated religion from politics” since independent Tibet embraced a synthesis of religion and politics as the guiding principle according to the decrees of the Tibetan emperors! It was guided by the moral code Buddha’s teachings such as ten virtuous Dharmas (ལྷ་ཆོས་དགེ་བ་བཅུ་)དང་ sixteen mundane conventional rules (མི་ཆོས་གཙང་མ་བཅུ་དྲུག་). The rules were laid down by the great Tibetan emperors such as Songtsen Gampo. It was a rule of mostly scholarly monks who were free from the corruption of family nepotism and greedy usurpers who siphoned away the wealth of the nation for their personal gain. Yet, today, the very regime who detested religion and treated religion and political union as anathema is itself indulging in the same way they accused of being wrong! The infidel Chinese communist regime’s utterly baseless and shamelessly scandalous act to lay claim upon a purely Devine matter is like the devil putting its evil hand to anoint God in its foolhardiness! It’s a total disgrace! Such acts are the hallmark of fascist dictators and not by self- respecting countries! Communist China has now inherited the mantle of Nazi Germany to practise the extermination of the Tibetan people on the grounds of Han superiority which has bedevilled Han dominated entity for centuries! Today, Han chauvinism is the bedrock of communist China’s racial policy on different nationalities that have been conquered by the imperialist communist regime! Tibetans are stripped of their national characteristics in order for them to be absorbed into the “great Han”! The Nazis did the same for all other nationalities to be either absorbed into the Aryan race or be exterminated! Today, Hitler’s nationality policies that drove six million Jews to their deaths is starring down the upon the Tibetan people in occupied Tibet! The communist regime is exterminating the Tibetan race by STRIPPING THE TIBETANS OF THEIR TIBETAN HERITAGE AND TRANSFORMING THEM INTO HAN CHINESE!!! If this is not ethnic cleaning, what is ethnic cleaning? Tibetan Buddhism which is the life-blood of the Tibetan people is being bulldozed under the pretext of “sinocising” it!!! It is peddling the contemptible lie of Tibetan Buddhism being born in “China”!!! Sinofication of Tibetan Buddhism is a euphemism for the total destruction of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism came from India in the seventh century when Emperor Songtsen Gampo sent sixteen students to study there! Among them Thomi Ssmbota became the most prominent student who later adopted Indian scripts to write in Tibetan and translation from Sanskrit into Tibetan began during the 33rd Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo! Indian texts were translated into Tibetan language by Indian and Tibetan translators which culminated in Buddhism finding a footing in Tibet! It was later followed by Indian masters like Shanta Rakshita, Guru Padma Samvava and Atisa etc. The Chinese are hell bend to distort history and impose false narratives about Buddhism, about the The Dalai Lama and Tibetan history to suit their evil agenda. They have no right whatsoever in the affairs of recognising the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation and it is purely fascist, rogue, illegitimate regime like the CCP which is ramrodding its will upon matters like the Dalai lama reincarnation without the slightest regard for The Dalai Lama, religious sanctity and respect for the sensitivity of his followers. AS IT WERE ALL PROPLE ACROSS THE WORLD WHO BELIEVE IN THE SANCTITY OF PEOPLE’S FAITH MUST STAND UP TO SUPPORT TIBETAN PEOPLE’S RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT AND THE DIGNITY OF THE DALAI LAMA AND HIS POSITION AS BOTH THE TEMPORAL AND RELIGIOUS LEADER OF TIBET AND MILLIONS OF BUDDHISTS ACROSS THE WORLD FROM COMMUNIST CHINA’S INSANITY!!!

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