China Fumes as Dalai Lama Wins First Grammy at 90, Calls it ‘Anti-China’ Move
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARMSALA 3 Feb: The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, at 90, has won his first Grammy Award for Best Audiobook, Narration & Storytelling Recording for his audiobook “Meditations: The Reflection of His Holiness the Dalai Lama”, published on 29 August 2025.
The award was received by Canadian-American songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who was featured on the album alongside Indian classical sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan and his sons, among others, at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Currently in South India, the Dalai Lama expressed gratitude and humility upon receiving the recognition, hoping that such a platform would help further spread his messages of peace, compassion, and the oneness of humanity for the collective well-being of all people.
“I receive this recognition with gratitude and humility. I do not see it as something personal, but as a recognition of our shared universal responsibility. I truly believe that peace, compassion, care for our environment, and an understanding of the oneness of humanity are essential for the collective well-being of all eight billion human beings. I am grateful that this Grammy recognition can help spread these messages more widely,” he stated on his X account on Monday.
The album moves from emphasising warm-heartedness as a key human quality to the spiritual leader’s vision of oneness, transcending borders, nationalism, and addressing environmental destruction in the face of modernisation. Drawing from his exilic experience, the Dalai Lama advocates for his generation to reflect on these issues so that future generations can build upon them through education.
While accepting the award, Rufus Wainwright put it succinctly that the central theme of the project revolves around the Dalai Lama’s wisdom and his emphasis on warm-heartedness and caring for one another. “In his words, the most precious human quality is warm-heartedness and caring for one another,” Rufus said, expressing his gratitude and honor in receiving the award on the Dalai Lama’s behalf.
As the world celebrates the recognition of the spiritual leader’s message of peace and compassion, Beijing’s Foreign Minister on Monday described it as a recognition of “anti-China political manipulation”, accusing the Grammy Awards of using the recognition as a political tool.
“It is well known that the 14th Dalai Lama is not merely a religious figure but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the guise of religion. We firmly oppose the use of awards as a tool for anti-China political manipulation,” the statement read.
The Dalai Lama has, for more than four decades, advocated for genuine autonomy for Tibetans in line with China’s constitution, ruling out demands for full independence while maintaining Tibet’s historical and cultural identity. However, the Chinese side has not provided a decisive response to this approach during the rounds of negotiations between the Chinese and Tibetan representatives that took place from September 2002 to January 2010.
As diplomatic relations remain deadlocked due to China’s reluctance to engage in dialogue, the Dalai Lama continues to advocate for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the Tibet-China issue.
