{"id":12388,"date":"2020-02-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/european-countries-weigh-in-on-tibetan-buddhists-right-to-pick-next-dalai-lama\/"},"modified":"2020-02-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T23:00:00","slug":"european-countries-weigh-in-on-tibetan-buddhists-right-to-pick-next-dalai-lama","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-countries-weigh-in-on-tibetan-buddhists-right-to-pick-next-dalai-lama\/","title":{"rendered":"European countries weigh in on Tibetan Buddhists\u2019 right to pick next Dalai Lama"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Belgium and the Netherlands have weighed in on the rights of the \nTibetan Buddhists by declaring that it is up to the Tibetan religious \ncommunity to select the future Dalai Lama, rejecting China\u2019s efforts to \ncontrol the succession of the revered Tibetan leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to a question from Member of Parliament Samuel Cogolati  on his government\u2019s position, Belgian Foreign Affairs and Defense  Minister Philippe Goffin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lachambre.be\/doc\/CCRI\/pdf\/55\/ic091.pdf\">said last month<\/a>, \u201cit is logically up to the  Tibetan religious community to designate his successor without  interference from the temporal authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, in an official letter in late 2019, Dutch Foreign Affairs  Minister Stef Blok <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parlementairemonitor.nl\/9353000\/1\/j9vvij5epmj1ey0\/vl3rj06x72zt\">said<\/a>, \u201cThe position of this cabinet is that it is up  to the Tibetan religious community itself to appoint a future successor  to the Dalai Lama.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/secureservercdn.net\/198.71.233.163\/4vo.170.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Belgian-MP-Vincent-600x315.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31856\"\/><figcaption><em>Belgian  MP Samuel Cogolati with visiting Tibetan parliamentarians and ICT\u2019s  Vincent Metten and Tibet Bureau staff Rigzin Genkhang.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rejecting Chinese interference<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Dalai Lama  is now 84. According to Tibetan Buddhist beliefs, a Dalai Lama can  choose to reincarnate after his eventual death in order to benefit  humankind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the Dalai Lama\u2014who initiated Tibetans transition to a  democratic form of governance in exile\u2014has said the decision of whether  or not to continue with the institution of the Dalai Lama after he dies  should be made by Tibetans and followers of Tibetan Buddhism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in a gross subversion of religious freedom, China\u2014which has brutally occupied Tibet since forcing the Dalai Lama into exile in 1959\u2014says the selection of the next Dalai Lama must be approved by the Chinese government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China\u2019s goal is to install a puppet in the role in order to gain \ncontrol over the Tibetan people and spread Beijing\u2019s propaganda around \nthe globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tibetan Policy and Support Act<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The US government has already taken action to challenge China\u2019s claim\n over the issue of reincarnation. Administration officials, including \nthe US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, \nhave publicly stated that the rights of the Tibetan Buddhists to decide \non the matter of the Dalai Lama\u2019s reincarnation has to be respected by \nthe Chinese government. Also, Members of Congress have introduced the <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/why-tibet\/tibet-support-act\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tibetan Policy and Support Act<\/a>,\n a bipartisan bill that will make it official US policy that only \nTibetan Buddhists can decide on the Dalai Lama\u2019s succession and will \nsanction Chinese officials who attempt to name their own Dalai Lama in \nthe future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The House <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/house-passes-tibetan-policy-and-support-act\/\" target=\"_blank\">voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill<\/a> last week, and the Senate is expected to take it up soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">International coalition<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The TPSA calls on the State Department to build international \ncoalitions to oppose any effort by China to interfere in the Dalai \nLama\u2019s succession. No doubt the recent statements from Belgium and the \nNetherlands will help that with that effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his remarks, Goffin, the Belgian minister, said, \u201cI can assure you that the human rights situation in Tibet  is an issue that we will continue to actively monitor. In this respect,  Belgium will continue to contribute constructively to the position  coordinated by the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Blok, the Dutch minister, said his government \u201cencourages China \nto remain in dialogue with representatives of the Tibetan community \ninside and outside of China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In March, the International Campaign for Tibet will <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/tibet-lobby-day-joint-us-eu-efforts-this-spring\/\">lead a Tibet Lobby Day<\/a> in Europe   and the United States that, among other things, will call on  governments to support the religious freedom of the Tibetan people,  including on the matter of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Belgium and the Netherlands have weighed in on the rights of the  Tibetan Buddhists by declaring that it is up to the Tibetan religious  community to select the future Dalai Lama, rejecting China\u2019s efforts to  control the succession of the revered Tibetan leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12389,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[664],"news_tag":[665],"class_list":["post-12388","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-newstibet-europe-news","news_tag-europe-and-tibet"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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