The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

2008.03.10

KATHMANDU—Chinese authorities in Tibet today detained dozens of Tibetan monks staging a rare protest march into the regional capital, Lhasa, on a key anniversary.

An authoritative source who declined to be identified told RFA’s Tibetan service as many as 300 monks set out from Drepung monastery outside Lhasa on the roughly 10-km (5-mile) walk into the city center.

Sources said the monks were marching to the Potala Palace in the heart of Lhasa to demand the release of monks detained last October shortly after the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, received a Congressional Gold Medal in Washington.

Police, ambulances summoned

Authorities at a checkpoint along the way stopped and detained between 50 and 60 monks, the source said. Witnesses reported seeing about 10 military vehicles, 10 police vehicles, and several ambulances at the checkpoint.

No information was immediately available on where the monks were taken or why ambulances were summoned.

Another witness reported that official vehicles then blocked off access by road to Drepung monastery, and that many monasteries in and around Lhasa were surrounded by members of the paramilitary People's Armed Police.

A source at a nunnery in the area, who asked not to be identified, said authorities had told the nunnery to lock its gates at 9 p.m. to keep all of the nuns inside.

Separately, witnesses reported that nine monks from another major monastery, Sera, and two laypeople staged a loud protest in front of the Tsuklakhang cathedral in central Lhasa, waving banners and shouting slogans.

Onlookers surrounded the 11 protesters, keeping security officers at a distance. People's Armed Police officers later pushed through the crowd and detained them, the witnesses said.

Officials decline to comment

Officials contacted by telephone at the Lhasa Public Security Bureau command center declined to comment. Officials at the Lhasa municipal government and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) government said they were unaware of any unrest.

March 10, 2008, marks the 49th anniversary of an uprising crushed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The Dalai Lama, now 72, subsequently fled into exile in northern India. Drepung, founded in the 15th century, is one of largest monasteries in Tibet and ranks as one of the most important in the Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.

In his own statement marking the anniversary, the Dalai Lama called on the world to press China to allow freedom of expression during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

“The language, customs and traditions of Tibet...are gradually fading away,” the 1989 Nobel laureate said.

Tibetans “have had to live in a state of constant fear, intimidation, and suspicion under Chinese repression…Repression continues to increase with numerous, unimaginable, and gross violations of human rights, denial of religious freedom, and the politicization of religious issues."

The Chinese government defends its presence in Tibet as liberation from “feudalism,” noting that it has spent billions of dollars to modernize the region and raise standards of living.

Tensions have been escalating in recent years in traditionally Tibetan areas of what is now western China, with Chinese authorities taking a tougher line against what they regard as ethnic “splittism,” or resistance to Chinese rule.

The Dalai Lama is regarded by China as a dangerous figure seeking independence for his homeland, although he says he wants only autonomy and for Chinese repression of Tibetans to end.

Original reporting by RFA's Tibetan service. Additional reporting by RFA's Mandarin service. Tibetan service director: Jigme Ngapo. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written and produced in English by Sarah Jackson-Han. Edited by Richard Finney.

Thursday, 15 November 2007, 5:00 p.m.

---

His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Thursday met briefly with the members of the Kanagawa Buddhist Federation at the Haneda Airport, Tokyo where the group extended a welcome to His Holiness (Photo credit: Phayul)

Dharamshala: After successfully concluding a two-day program in New Delhi, His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Japan early this morning for a week-long visit at the invitation of the All Japan Buddhist Federation and Kanagawa Buddhist Federation.

His Holiness was received at the Narita Airport by officials from the Representative office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as Tibetans and Mongolian Buddhists lined up to welcome him at the airport.

The director of Kanagawa Buddhist Federation, Ven Wada Taiga said, he was honoured and happy to have His Holiness in Japan.

In a brief interaction with leaders of the Japanese Buddhist group , His Holiness outlined the importance of developing closer understanding with other religious faiths.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with vice chairman of Kanagawa Buddhist Federation, Ven Ryujo Kurata (Photo credit: Phayul)

His Holiness said, "I always love coming to Japan. I am very happy to be here again in Japan at your invitation."

During his 9-day visit, His Holiness will give a series of educational and religious lectures in Yokohama and other cities.

On 20 November, His Holiness is scheduled to address a large gathering on 'Faith and Peace' at National Convention Hall of Yokohama.

His Holiness last visited Japan from 30 October to 11 November 2006.

  (www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.)

The Portugal Resident[Friday, September 14, 2007 05:04] NOBEL PEACE prize winner and spiritual leader Tenzin Gyatso, head of the Buddhist faith, is in Portugal for only the second time of Tibet, the Dalai lama, who arrived in Lisbon yesterday (Thursday), will not receive an official reception from the Portuguese government. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, head of the Buddhist faith, is in Portugal for only the second time and will stay until Sunday, for three days of public teachings and to give a conference at the Pavilhão Atlântico. It is understood that the lack of an official welcome is in light of recent and future meetings with Chinese government officials. Ana Paula Vitorino, the Portuguese transport Secretary of State, made an official visit to China on Monday to strengthen the relationship between the two countries in maritime transport. On the same day, Luís Amado, minister of foreign affairs was questioned in Viana do Castelo, a city in northwestern Portugal, as to whether the government would receive the Dalai Lama. “Officially the Dalai Lama is not received by representatives of the Portuguese government” said Luís Amado, adding: “Obviously, for reasons that are already known.” Later that day, a spokesman for the Portuguese Prime Minister said: “The Prime Minister cannot meet with the Dalai Lama only because of his full agenda. He leaves for the Ukraine on Thursday and only returns to Portugal for a few hours on Saturday before leaving for the US”. Informal meeting However, Jaime Gama, President of parliament, was scheduled to meet the Dalai Lama yesterday at 3pm. This is in contrast to the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Portugal when the then president of parliament, Almeida Santos did not allow him to enter the government building. An informal meeting was set up instead with the President Jorge Sampaio at the Ancient art museum in Lisbon. Organisers of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Portugal include the Kangyur Rinpoché foundation, Songsten Casa da Cultura do Tibet and the Portuguese Buddhist Union. They decided to increase the capacity in the Pavilhão Atlântico, where the Tibetan spiritual leader will give a public conference on Sunday to 10,000, because of the large number of tickets sold very early on. A spokesman for the event said: “It is with great enthusiasm that we view the enormous interest of people wanting to hear the Dalai Lama’s words. “A Nobel Peace Prize winner and figure whose intrinsic spirituality will most certainly touch the hearts of everyone present.” Funds gained from ticket sales for the conference will be used to pay for the Dalai Lama’s visit; however the organisers say they are not going to make a profit from the event. “If the number of participants exceeds expectations then any money left over will be distributed to humanitarian causes by indication of the Dalai Lama himself” said a spokesman.

Phayul[Friday, September 14, 2007 02:44] Lisbon, 13 September – His Holiness the Dalai Lama today started his first ever religious teaching in Lisbon, Portugal. Soldout crowd of a few thousand people listened to the Tibetan Buddhist leader at the Auditório da Faculdade de Medicina Dentária(Auditorium of Dental Faculty) to listen to his teaching on Santideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. The teaching is organised by Kangyur Rinpoché foundation, Songsten Casa da Cultura do Tibet and the Portuguese Buddhist Union and is scheduled for three days.   Before speaking on the actual topic he first talked about the importance of all major religions in the world. He said all the major religions carry same message of strengthening of human values. He also spoke about the importance of one's own religion and traditions. "It will be safer to keep one's own religion as changing faith might create confusion in personal life. If necessary one should change only after serious and fuller knowledge. It is unhealthy and you should not loose respect for your previous faith although it might not be relevant to you but you must understand that it is helping millions of others." Later in the evening His Holiness met with Jaime Gama, President of parliament.

Sep 8, 2007, 5:29 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian on Saturday asked the Tibetan government-in-exile to join Taiwan in defying China and invited the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan.

At a seminar on human rights in Tibet, Chen said Tibet is an important symbol of weak forces defying China's tyranny and seeking freedom under China's military threat. It is also a test of how the international community handles human rights, he said.

'Today Tibet and Taiwan face the same destiny, we both face China's threats. Therefore, Taiwan people can feel the hardships suffered by Tibetans, and Taiwan gives firm support and blessings to Tibetans' fight for self-determination,' he said.

'We respect the Dalai Lama's decisions regarding Tibet's future and hope that Taiwan and Tibet can have closer ties and support each other,' he added. 'We hope the Dalai Lama can visit Taiwan to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the Tibetan government- in-exile and Taiwan.'

Taiwan and China split in 1949 when the Republic of China (ROC) lost the Chinese Civil War to the Communists and fled to Taiwan. China sees Taiwan as its breakaway province, while Taiwan, formally called ROC, considers itself a sovereign country recognized by 24 countries.

The Dalai Lama fled India in 1959 after an abortive rebellion against Chinese troops and set up his government-in-exile in Dharamsala, north India.

The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner visited Taiwan in 1997 and 2001 and opened a representative office in Taipei in 2001.

Taiwan has invited the Dalai Lama to make his third visit to Taiwan, but the Dalai Lama has turned down the invitations so as not to anger China and hurt his peace talks with Beijing.

 September 2, 2007

DHARMSALA, India (AP) — A Chinese order claiming Beijing must approve all of Tibet's spiritual leaders is an attempt to further repress and undermine the religious culture of the Himalayan region, the Tibetan government-in-exile said Sunday.

For centuries, the search for the reincarnation of lamas - including Tibet's spiritual head, the Dalai Lama - has been carried out by select Tibetan monks.

The new order, which came into force Saturday, states that all future incarnations of living Buddhas related to Tibetan Buddhism "must get government approval," according to China's official Xinhua news agency.

It also prevents any outside source from having "influence" in the selection process, the agency reported Friday.

In Dharmsala, the town in northern India where the Dalai Lama has lived since he fled amid a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, the government-in-exile decried the new rules.

"Recognition of tulkus (reincarnate lamas) is something that can neither be appointed from above, nor be elected by general populace, or be bestowed upon someone as titles or positions," Minister of Religion and Culture Tsering Phuntsok told reporters.

China's officially atheistic Communist government has increasingly sought to direct Tibetan Buddhism, for centuries the basis of Tibet's civil, religious, cultural and political life.

Reincarnate lamas often lead religious communities and oversee the training of monks, giving them enormous influence over religious life in Tibet.

China already insists that only the government can approve the appointments of the best-known reincarnates, including the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, the No. 1 and No. 2 figures in Tibetan Buddhism.

In 1995, the Dalai Lama chose six-year-old Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama, the most exalted figure of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. The boy and his family disappeared soon after and have not been heard from since.

The Chinese government later named Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama and said Nyima and his family were being kept in a secret location for their protection.

"Going by the religious and social norms, it is crystal clear that this cannot be done at all by the state or any political organization," Phuntsok said.

"This would serve as a tool for the Chinese government to brutally repress innocent Tibetans."

PRESS STATEMENT

Ven. Tsering Phuntsok, Kalon  for Religious Department

Ludicrous and unwarranted as it is, China's State Administration of Religious Affairs has come out with a document called the order no. 5, containing 14 articles on Management Measures for the Reincarnation of 'Living Buddhas' in Tibetan Buddhism which, it said, will take effect on 1 September. Replete with contradictory statements and wild claims, the document reflects the ulterior or true motives of the Chinese leadership. Since it will serve as a big tool for the Chinese government to brutally repress the innocent Tibetans under their tyrannical rule — and will also be recorded as a gross historical misrepresentation — we feel it is necessary to issue a statement, repudiating this document through a brief analysis of its contents.

1. Religious freedom, as it is universally accepted or practised, means that all citizens can believe, or not believe, in any religion; that a believer can, according to his or her will, practise and propagate his or her religion; and especially that there should be no state or political interference whatsoever in religious affairs. These days, it is generally observed that in all countries — save the theocracies — the state does not meddle, or exercise control over, any of its citizen's religious activities.

   The People's Republic of China (PRC) does not only claim that it is an atheist state, but has also included freedom of religious belief among the fundamental rights of the people in its constitution. And yet it continues to forcibly interfere in the religious activities of all religions of the country, according to its political needs. This is something that all humanity, and especially all religious believers, should take great care to confront with.

    

2. The document says that it guarantees the " citizens' freedom of religious belief" and "respect Tibetan Buddhism's practice of inheriting 'Living Buddha' positions". This is a shameless statement, since it is very obvious that the order is but a means to trample upon the Tibetan people's religious freedom, as well as Tibetan Buddhism's practice of inheriting "Living Buddha" positions. During the last many centuries since the recognition of Tulkus (or the "Living Buddhas") came into being, the principal disciples of the concerned lamas and the responsible officials of their spiritual seats have freely recognised their reincarnating beings, based on the latter's faith in and spiritual bond with the former. Never was there an occasion when they had to seek approval from the state or its functionaries. Recognition of Tulkus is something that can neither be appointed from above, nor be elected by the general populace, or be bestowed upon someone as "titles" or "positions". Since the task involved is to search for the place where the previous being has taken rebirth, it must be recognised through the prognostic signs demonstrated by the concerned reincarnating beings, in consultation with the lamas or protective deities gifted with intuitive powers, and through other traditional or religious methods of testing. Going by the religious and social norms, it is crystal clear that this cannot be done at all by the state or any political organisation.

    

3. Highly-realised beings take rebirth for the benefit of the Dharma and sentient beings. As such, their meritorious service is not incumbent upon the state's approval, or the formal recognition accorded by it. Therefore simply by issuing an order on measures for the recognition of Tulkus, it cannot fulfil the order's twin purpose of undermining or diluting Tibetan Buddhism, and exercising control over the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people through state-sponsored "Living Buddhas". This will soon become clear to those who call the shots in Beijing, for today it is quite obvious to all whether the Tibetan people accept, or how much respect and devotion they have for, the high lamas anointed by the Chinese communist government.

    

4. The document says that "the 'Living Buddhas' who have historically been recognised by drawing lots from the Golden Urn shall have their reincarnating souls recognised" by this very tradition. This shows the means employed by Communist China to meet its selfish ends. To cite an example, the Chinese government has — while disregarding history or tradition, and acting according to the political needs of the times — made two different decisions by firstly, trying to determine the reincarnation of the 9th Panchen Lama without resorting to the Golden Urn method; and secondly, even though the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama was already determined through the traditional or religious system, China had issued strict instructions that the Golden Urn method be evoked, but even then the rituals associated with the Golden Urn were not properly followed. Moreover, they did not include in it the names of all the candidates and forced their own list of candidates. Everybody knows that the whole selection procedure was a farce, devoid of even the semblance of religious, traditional, historical and moral considerations.

    

5. The document further says that the "reincarnating living Buddhas shall not be interfered with or be under the dominion of any foreign organisation or individual". This reflects the principal objective of the order, as does the ultimate motive of the Chinese government. At present His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the supreme leader of the entire Tibetan Buddhist world and the heads of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the traditional Bon religion are all residing in exile. If a system is instituted, whereby all of them were to be denied the right to offer guidance, and have the ultimate say, in matters relating to the recognition of Tulkus in their respective schools, it will completely jeopardise the unique tradition, or the religious system, of recognising Tulkus. It will also increase the number of fake Tulkus, enjoying the so-called state recognition. This, in turn, will erase the great faith and respect the common people have for the Tulkus, thus greatly contributing to the destruction and dilution of Tibetan Buddhism. Moreover, through the implementation of this order, the Buddhist followers in Tibet will be estranged from their lamas. It will, in particular, pave the way for the state to anoint fake reincarnations of high-ranking Tibetan lamas, disregarding those true incarnate Tulkus who are born outside the country, or in other country. It must, however, be emphasised that anyone would know that this evil design of theirs will never lead to fruition; they are simply engaging themselves in wishful thinking.

    

6. While implementing these measures, the most important thing to note is that the document does not specify the basis on which the decisions in granting approval to, and recognition of, Tulkus will be taken. As such, will the concerned officials of the Religious Affairs Bureaus of the National People's Congresses of the provincial and regional levels, the National Religious Affairs Bureau and the State Council — who are supposed to be the competent authorities in this respect — give approval to recognise, and accord state recognition to, a Tulku after having determined confidently that the inheritance lineage of the Tulku is real; that his lineage has continued to the present day; and that he is the true reincarnating soul of the previous lama? Or will they follow their whims in giving approval and according state recognition? If the former is true, then does it not prove that those at the helm of China's communist government have accepted, and are actually practising, the Buddhist philosophy. In which case, they must categorically state that they have abandoned their communist ideology of viewing religion as opium that obstructs the development of society and that it is a blind faith. Whereas if the latter is true, then is it not an incontrovertible evidence of the fact that the PRC's overall policy on religion, including these measures for managing Tulkus, is nothing but a deceitful lie. However, this lie will not at all be able to fool the Tibetans and the people of the world.

    

7. Due to the reasons cited above, the heads of all the religious schools of Tibetan Buddhism; the monks, nuns, mantra holders and other lay followers of the respective schools and the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration collectively issue this statement repudiating the so-called order no. 5 of China's State Administration of Religious Affairs that it is against the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights and the PRC's constitution; that it is against history and the aspiration of the broad masses of people who believe in Tibetan Buddhism. Furthermore, it is a new weapon employed by the Chinese government to undermine Tibetan Buddhism, and to insult and oppress the Tibetan people.

   At the same time, we would like to make an emphatic appeal to the Tibetans in general; and especially to the Tibetan leaders, officials, party cadres and the general public in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region as well as other Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties that as provided for in the PRC's Law on Regional National Autonomy: "If a resolution, decision, order or instruction of a state organ at a higher level does not suit the conditions in a national autonomous area, the organ of self-government of the area may ..... cease implementing it after reporting to and receiving the approval of the state organ at a higher level," they should impress upon their legitimate authorities that this order is not in keeping with the actual prevailing situation of the Tibetan autonomous areas, and so they should be allowed to repudiate, and halt the implementation of this order.

   Kalon for Religion and Culture
   Central Tibetan Administration

Communist China has introduced new rules that appear aimed at controlling the selection of the next Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual head.

Most Tibetans believe that eminent monks, such as the Dalai Lama, are reincarnated after death.

China, which governs Tibet, will now have final say over who can be selected as a reincarnated monk.

The current Dalai Lama is a thorn in Beijing's side, which is probably why it is keen to select his reincarnation.

Photo by Yeshe Choesang, Sub_editor of The Tibet Express 

Seal of approval

Although the new regulations do not mention the Dalai Lama by name, they effectively prevent his followers in exile from choosing his reincarnation.

This ruling by the Chinese government will not go down well with Tibetan monks Thubten Samphel, spokesman for Tibet's government in exile

"No outside organisation or individual will influence or control the reincarnation of living Buddhas [eminent monks]," states one article of the new regulations.

They also say that any reincarnation has to be approved by various levels of government.

In the case of the most pre-eminent monks, who would include the Dalai Lama, China's cabinet has to give its seal of approval.

Officials at China's State Administration for Religious Affairs declined to be interviewed by the BBC about who these new rules are directed against.

But it appears China wants to control the selection of the next Dalai Lama. The current, 14th Dalai Lama, is now 72.

Tibetans defiant

Since he fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, he has travelled the world.

He promotes the idea that Tibetans deserve real autonomy from Beijing.

This annoys China, which claims Tibet has been part of the motherland for eight centuries.

Chinese officials routinely refer to the Dalai Lama as a "splittist" intent on separating Tibet from China, which reasserted its control of the region in 1951.

Tibetans outside China say the new regulations will not effect the selection of next Dalai Lama.

"We believe this ruling by the Chinese government will not go down well with Tibetan monks," says Thubten Samphel, spokesman for the Tibetan government in exile.

He says choosing the child who is a reincarnation of an eminent monk can only be done by an organisation with spiritual authority, and that does not include China's Communist government.

Also, the spokesman, based in Dharamsala, India, says that the Dalai Lama has already said he will be born outside Tibet if he is not allowed to return there during his lifetime.

The new regulations raise the prospect of two Dalai Lamas in the future, a situation that already has a precedent.

When the Dalai Lama selected the 11th Panchen Lama - Tibetan Buddhism's second-most important monk - in 1995, China followed suit by naming its own.

Reuters[Wednesday, August 29, 2007 14:32] Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama seen during a religious lecture at the Rothenbaum tennis stadium in Hamburg in this July 23, 2007 file photo. China has charged a Tibetan villager with subversion after he spoke at a gathering in support of the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet, a human rights group said on Wednesday. (REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen) BEIJING - China has charged a Tibetan villager with subversion after he spoke at a gathering in support of the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet, a human rights group said on Wednesday. China's ruling Communist Party frowns on dissent, particularly in ethnic minority regions where maintaining social stability is a key concern. Tibet is an especially sensitive issue since the Dalai Lama fled the mountainous Buddhist region in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Runggye Adak, 53, has been in detention since early August when he addressed a crowd gathered for a Tibetan horse-racing festival about the need for greater religious freedom and for the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, to return. "On August 27, the prosecutor's office in Ganzi, Sichuan province, formally arrested Runggye Adak on a charge of incitement to subvert state power," the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement. His speech prompted clashes between authorities and villagers calling for his release. Local officials had since been made to attend a series of meetings and teleconferences regarding social stability, the group said. Telephones at the prosecutor's office and local government in Ganzi rang unanswered. Parts of western China, including the Sichuan village of Litang where Runggye Adak spoke, are considered part of a cultural Tibet that extends beyond the borders of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The official Xinhua news agency said at the time that Runggye Adak was the only person detained over the demonstration in Litang, but the Hong Kong organisation said 30 were detained. The International Campaign for Tibet said three of his nephews were taken into custody after calling for his release and posted photos taken by a tourist that show riot police in the area dispersing crowds. "The army started to fire tear-gas and hurl shock grenades at the crowd," the group quoted the tourist as saying. It quoted a second witness as saying uniformed officers began moving through the cheering crowd shortly after Runggye Adak made his appeal. Photos also showed police roadblocks on the road into Litang. The Dalai Lama, 72, has lived in exile in India since his flight, but despite his being branded a traitor and a separatist by China, he is thought to still command wide respect in Tibet and he has expressed a desire to return. But despite a tentative dialogue process between Chinese officials and envoys of the Dalai Lama, the government has recently taken measures to tighten religious controls in Tibet. On Saturday, new regulations will come into effect that make reincarnations of "living Buddhas" that fail to get Chinese government approval illegal.

This story has been read 309 times.

VOA[Wednesday, August 29, 2007 16:12] By Heda Bayron Hong Kong, August 29 - As of September 1, China is tightening control over Tibetan Buddhism with a new law requiring government permission for the reincarnation of lamas. Tibetan activists say this is another attempt by communist Chinese leaders to undermine Tibetan culture and even absurdly to control the religious afterlife. VOA's Heda Bayron has more on the story from our Asia News Center in Hong Kong. The new law bans Tibetan lamas, or monks, from reincarnating without Chinese government approval. China, which has ruled Tibet for more than half a century, says anyone outside China cannot influence the reincarnation process and only monasteries in China can apply for permission. Experts and activists say the law is clearly aimed at excluding the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, from selecting reincarnated lamas or Living Buddhas - which form the core of Tibetan Buddhism's leadership. And, they say, the law effectively paves the way for China to interfere in the future reincarnation of the 72 year-old Dalai Lama, who China regards as a "splittist". John Powers, an expert on Tibetan Buddhism at Australia National University, says the law is "absurd" but at the same time, "chilling". "They're [Chinese government] trying to exercise as much control as they possibly can over religious practices and over peoples' lives," he said. "It's not even just exercising control of the present life, they even trying to control future life and death. This sort of thing would only occur in a totalitarian government." Communist China exercises strict control over all religion. For instance, millions of Chinese Catholics are allowed to worship only in the government-sanctioned Patriotic Church, which functions outside of the Vatican. The Patriotic Church appoints bishops in China without approval from the Pope. Human rights organizations have long criticized China for religious repression and human rights abuses in Tibet. In 1995, the Dalai Lama's chosen reincarnation of the Panchen Lama - the second holiest figure in Tibetan Buddhism - was rejected by Beijing. Instead, China appointed its own Panchen Lama and detained the Dalai Lama's choice. But few Tibetans consider the Chinese Panchen Lama as a legitimate leader. Lamas are often reborn to continue their good work. There are often many candidates of a lama's reincarnation, but only one will be recognized. The Dalai Lama has said he will be reincarnated outside Tibet - raising the possibility of two Dalai Lamas in the future - a Chinese appointed one in Tibet and another in exile. But Tenzin Norgay, a spokesman for the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala India - home of the Tibetan exile government, says Tibetans are not likely to accept a Chinese-appointed Dalai Lama. "How could an atheist party be able to recognize the next Dalai Lama? You look into the sentiments of the Tibetan people, the Beijing appointed Panchen Lama does not have any respect," said Norgay. "So similarly even of this regulation comes into effect, if they choose a Dalai Lama of their own, it's not going to be of any use. Ultimately it should come from the respect being shown by the Tibetan people." China says the new regulation aims to preserve social harmony - a reason Beijing often uses in situations involving ethnic, economic or political conflict. Beijing has been showering the region with economic projects to end poverty and isolation - including the high tech Beijing to Tibet railway, which opened last year. But rights groups say Tibetans are feeling that their culture will be diluted because of this government-sponsored influx of Han Chinese into the region. This law is seen as even more threatening to the most fundamental aspect of Tibetan life - the spiritual realm. More than 130,000 Tibetans live in exile. Many monks and nuns flee Tibet every year often via a treacherous hike in the Himalayas. The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959, has given up demands for independence for Tibet but wants more autonomy for the region. Representatives of the Dalai Lama have held a series of informal talks with the Chinese government but no progress has been achieved on the issue.