Dalai Lama needs to 'return to right path' for Tibet talks to start, says China

China has said that the talks regarding Tibet can resume but the Dalai Lama will need to “return to the right path”.

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists. Since 2011, he was the Tibetan political leader as well.

Since 1959, the Dalai Lama has stayed in India after he fled his homeland of Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. The Communist Party of China (CPC) invaded and occupied Tibet in 1950-51.

As the Dalai Lama turns 90 this year, there are questions around his succession. Each Dalai Lama is considered to be the reincarnation of the first one. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th in the line. While the Dalai Lama has said that he would decide the question of succession, China has said it would appoint the next Dalai Lama.

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It is in this backdrop that China has now said that if the Dalai Lama were to return to what it calls the “right path”, the talks about Tibet could start.

At a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday said that China is open to talks about the future of the Dalai Lama as long as he abandons his position of splitting the “motherland”, according to Reuters.

China has long labelled the Dalai Lama as a separatist leader even though he and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile have given up the demand of complete freedom from Chinese rule and are instead pursuing a middle-path approach.

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The Dalai Lama needs to openly recognise that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, whose sole legal government is that of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), said Guo at the press conference.

Since occupying Tibet in 1950-51, China has systemically eroded Tibetan culture and heritage. It has also gone to the extent of suppressing the usage and teaching of Tibetan language to replace it with Mandarin spoken by Han Chinese. From exile, the Dalai Lama has campaigned for Tibetan causes. HIs succession is an issue of geopolitical importance as China is set to name a loyalist to the office who would peddle China’s narrative across the world. How Tibetans counter that is the challenge that they face. The Dalai Lama has said that he could very well abolish the institution of Dalai Lama with his death.

There are signals that this year may bring some clarity about the issue of succession.

The Dalai Lama has said he will clarify questions about the succession, such as if and where he will be reincarnated around the time of his 90th birthday in July, according to Reuters.

Moreover, a book authored by the Dalai Lama is scheduled to be released next month to coincide with the 65th anniversary of Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation of their homeland. It is expected that the book may also offer some clarity on the question of succession.