DALAI LAMA SAYS TIBETAN TRADITION WILL DETERMINE SUCCESSOR

The exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, says his successor will be chosen based on Tibetan tradition without any interference from others. The move goes against Beijing's insistence it will make the selection. The video statement came during a meeting of Buddhist monks in the northern Indian city of Dharamshala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. The 14th Dalai Lama said the Gaden Phodrang Trust of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will have the sole authority to recognize his future reincarnation. Tibetan Buddhists believe when a high-ranking monk dies, the reincarnated child will be found and become the successor. An official of the trust said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate is in good health. He turns 90 on Sunday. He fled to India in 1959 after China's suppression of an uprising in Tibet. Beijing considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and has shown it intends to intervene in the succession process.