Tibet Coalition Urges G7 to Stop China’s Interference in Reincarnation, Human Rights Violations

By Tenzin Chokyi

Tibet Coalition Urges G7 to Stop China’s Interference in Reincarnation, Human Rights Violations. Image: International Tibet Network .

DHARAMSALA, 13 June: Ahead of the upcoming G7 summit in Canada, a coalition of over 147 Tibet-related rights groups has urged the G7 governments to call for an end to China’s interference in the selection of the next Dalai lama and other Tibetan Buddhist leaders.

According to a joint letter posted by the International Tibet Network (ITN), the coalition emphasised the need for the G7 governments to defend human rights and Tibetan religious freedoms in occupied Tibet against China’s increasingly aggressive attempts to erase Tibetans’ distinct identity and religion. 

The letter describes China’s insistence on selecting the next Dalai Lama as the most alarming violation of religious freedom. This includes the enforcement of domestic laws governing reincarnation in Tibet and the aggressive promotion of the state-appointed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu.

“We call for an end to China’s interference in the selection and installation of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including any future reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, which must be determined solely by the Tibetan people, in accordance with international human rights law”, the letter states. 

Reaffirming that the sole authority over his reincarnation rests with the Dalai Lama himself, and referencing his recent remarks that his successor will be born outside China in a free world, the coalition called on the G7 governments to develop “stronger preparedness” and “multilateral coordination” as the 14th Dalai Lama approaches his 90th birthday this July. 

“His Holiness will turn 90 years old in July 2025, and as he ages, it becomes increasingly crucial for world governments to develop much stronger preparedness and multilateral coordination to anticipate what is to come”.

Beyond spiritual succession, the coalition also raised alarm over China’s broader human rights violations in occupied Tibet. They cited China’s strict control over Tibetan Buddhism, including its impact on children. An estimated one million Tibetan children, some as young as four, have reportedly been forcibly separated from their families and placed in colonial-style boarding schools, where they are denied the right to learn their language, culture, and religion.

The Tibet-related rights groups have described China’s rule in Tibet as a legacy of colonialism, calling on G7 nations to help bring an end to what they describe as one of the last remaining vestiges of 20th-century colonial domination.

“Occupied for over seven decades, China’s rule in Tibet is one of the last remnants of 20th-century colonialism, and G7 countries must take a stand to defend fundamental freedom and rights”.

The upcoming G7 Summit is scheduled to take place from 15 to 17 June, with Canada serving as the G7 president this year. Canada will host the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has also extended invitations to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend as observers on the sidelines of the summit.

With global attention focused on the summit, the coalition hopes that Tibet’s decades-long struggle for religious freedom, cultural preservation, and self-determination will receive stronger and more decisive international support than ever before.

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