Tibet: Dalai Lama celebrates 90th birthday

The Dalai Lama turns 90 this Sunday. On the occasion of his birthday, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism in China rejected any claim to determine his successor. His charitable foundation, the Gaden Phodrang Foundation, has the sole authority to recognize his successor, he said on Wednesday during the celebrations in the northern Indian city of Dharamsala.

For days, ceremonies in his honor have been taking place in the city where the Dalai Lama has lived in exile for decades. On Saturday, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism said he hoped to live another "30 or 40 years." Nevertheless, his birthday was recently marked by intense debate about his successor.

China insists that the succession must be approved by the Chinese leadership. The Nobel Peace Prize winner fled his native Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Since then, he has been working from India for a peaceful "Middle Way" that aims at autonomy and religious freedom for the Tibetan people.

The succession question is politically extremely charged, as China considers the current Dalai Lama an enemy of the state. The government in Beijing insists on having the final say in the selection of his successor. The Dalai Lama rejects this claim.

China forcibly annexed the Himalayan region of Tibet in 1950 and crushed a popular uprising there in 1959. The Dalai Lama and thousands of other Tibetans fled into exile. China demands that Tibet be recognized as an inalienable part of China. The Tibetan government in exile rejects this.