Home > World > World

Dalai Lama turns 90 and vows to keep defying China for years

Published: 06 Jul. 2025, 12:34

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama attends a prayer meet held for his long life at the Dalai Lama temple in the northern hill town of Dharamshala, India on July 5. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama, turns 90 on Sunday after a week of celebrations by followers during which he riled China again and spoke about his hope to live beyond 130 and reincarnate after dying.

The Nobel laureate is regarded as one of the world's most influential religious leaders, with a following that extends well beyond Buddhism, but not by Beijing, which calls him a separatist and has sought to bring the faith under its control.

Fleeing his native Tibet in 1959 in the wake of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, the 14th Dalai Lama, along with hundreds of thousands of Tibetans, took shelter in India and has since advocated for a peaceful "Middle Way" to seek autonomy and religious freedom for the Tibetan people.

Thousands of followers from around the world, celebrities and officials from the United States and India, will attend his birthday celebrations in Dharamshala, a small Indian town in the foothills of the Himalayas where the Dalai Lama lives.

During the celebrations, which will include cultural performances and remarks by long-time follower and Hollywood star Richard Gere, as well as Indian federal ministers, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to deliver a speech.

The preceding week of celebrations was particularly significant for Tibetan Buddhists, as the Dalai Lama had previously mentioned that he would discuss his succession on his 90th birthday.

On Wednesday, he allayed their concerns about the future of the institution of the Dalai Lama by saying that he would reincarnate as the leader of the faith upon his death and that his non-profit institution, the Gaden Phodrang Trust, had the sole authority to recognise his successor.

China has stated that the succession will require approval from its leaders.

The United States, which is seeking to counter the rise of China, has called on Beijing to cease what it describes as interference in the succession of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist lamas.

Reuters