'Simple Buddhist monk' Dalai Lama celebrates landmark 90th birthday
Chanting of red-robed monks and nuns rang out from Himalayan hilltop forested temples in India, home to the Dalai Lama since he and thousands of other Tibetans fled Chinese troops who crushed an uprising in their capital Lhasa in 1959. "I am just a simple Buddhist monk; I don't normally engage in birthday celebrations," the Dalai Lama said in a message, thanking those marking it with him for using the opportunity "to cultivate peace of mind and compassion."
Dressed in traditional robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he walked with the aid of two monks while flashing his trademark beaming smile to thousands of followers.
Beijing condemns the Nobel Peace Prize winner – who has led a lifelong campaign for greater autonomy for Tibet, a vast high-altitude plateau – as a rebel and separatist. Alongside the celebrations, however, is the worry for Tibetans in exile that China will name its successor to bolster control over the territory it poured troops into in 1950 and has ruled ever since.
That raises the likelihood of rival challengers to the post; one by self-declared atheist Beijing, the other by the Dalai Lama's office based in neighbouring India, a regional rival of China.
'Good heart'
The celebrations on Sunday are the culmination of days of long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14 th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, a man whose moral teachings and idiosyncratic humour have made him one of the world's most popular religious leaders. "While it is important to work for material development, it is vital to focus on achieving peace of mind through cultivating a good heart and by being compassionate, not just toward near and dear ones, but toward everyone," he said in his birthday message. "Through this, you will contribute to making the world a better place."
The celebrations also included his key announcement that, after being inundated with messages of support from fellow Tibetans both inside and in exile, the spiritual institution will continue after his death. He said he had received appeals from followers from across the Himalayan region, Mongolia and parts of Russia and China.
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The seemingly esoteric matters of reincarnation have real-world political consequences, with Tibetans fearing his death will mark a major setback in his push for more autonomy for the Himalayan region. The Dalai Lama said his India-based office alone would "exclusively" identify that successor, prompting a swift and sharp reply from China that the reincarnation "must be approved by the central government" in Beijing.
China said the succession would be carried out "by drawing lots from a golden urn," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters on Wednesday. That urn is held by Beijing, and the Dalai Lama has warned that, when used dishonestly, it lacks "any spiritual quality."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered effusive birthday greetings on Sunday, calling the Dalai Lama an "enduring symbol of love." India and China are intense rivals competing for influence across South Asia, but have sought to repair ties after a 2020 border clash.
'Freedom and dignity'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said in a statement that Washington was "committed to promoting respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Tibetans."
Among the crowds attending the celebrations was Hollywood star Richard Gere, a longtime backer of the Tibetans in exile, who on Sunday said the Dalai Lama "totally embodies selflessness, complete love and compassion and wisdom." Messages of support were also given by former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as Barack Obama, who said the Dalai Lama had shown what it means to "speak up for freedom and dignity."
The ceremony ended with the Dalai Lama eating a slice of cake and thousands singing "happy birthday." No details have been released for the future succession. All so far have been men or boys, often identified as toddlers and taking up the role only as teenagers.
The current Dalai Lama, himself identified in 1937, has said that if there is a successor it will come from the "free world" outside China's control. In a speech to followers on Sunday, the Dalai Lama said his practice of Buddhism meant he had dedicated his life towards seeking compassion. "I'm now 90 and... when I reflect on my life, I see that I have not wasted my life at all", he said, speaking in Tibetan. "I would not have regrets at the time of my death; rather I would be able to die very peacefully."
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France 24
9 hours ago
- France 24
The real-world impacts of the Dalai Lama's remarks on his succession
The Dalai Lama – spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism – turned 90 on Sunday and celebrated in the small Himalayan town of Dharamshala, where he has lived in exile since fleeing Chinese rule in Tibet in 1959. Thousands of admirers and followers of the Nobel peace laureate attended the event, including Indian ministers and even Hollywood actor Richard Gere, who called the Dalai Lama, "the most extraordinary man to have ever walked on this planet", in an emotional speech that was met with thunderous applause. Dancers celebrated the 90-year-old in traditional Tibetan garb dyed in the emblematic blue, yellow, red, and white colours of the Tibetan flag, against a backdrop of deodar cedars native to the Indian-governed Himalayan region. But an undercurrent of political tension ran through the week-long celebrations. The spiritual leader announced earlier in the week that his successor, the 15 th Dalai Lama, would be his reincarnation, following centuries old Tibetan tradition. He stated that his office in India, The Ganden Phodrang Trust, will have "sole authority" to select his successor. The lengthy and secretive process would likely mean tracking down a child reincarnation over the span of many years. The seemingly arcane and esoteric question of the Dalai Lama's spiritual succession does in fact carry serious real-world consequences. While the Dalai Lama said this past week that he would like to live for 30-40 more years, it's likely that the global Tibetan community will at some point in the not-so-distant future have to bid their beloved leader farewell. The selection of the next Dalai Lama isn't just a matter of enormous importance to millions of Tibetan Buddhists scattered across the globe, it also plays an important strategic role in Indo-Chinese relations, which hold long-term significance for the future of Asian and global affairs. A thorn in Indo-China relations Tibet came under Chinese control after a seven-and-a-half-month-long annexation that ended in 1951. Ideologically, for the CCP, Tibet belonged to China since the Qing dynasty seized its land in the 18 th century. China believed the people within Tibet's theocracy needed to be "liberated" and reintegrated into the mainland. There were also economic and strategic gains involved. The high-altitude cold desert holds geopolitical importance, and Beijing's seizure of Tibet and its vast pool of resources – from rare earths and minerals to untapped water and energy sources – helped drive China's economic growth. The Tibetan diaspora first made their way to India en masse eight years after the annexation, during the 1959 Lhasa uprising, which was spurred by the fear that the Mao Zedong -led Chinese government wanted to arrest the Dalai Lama. About 100,000 Tibetan Buddhists followed the Dalai Lama to India in the first exodus, with thousands more joining him there as the years went on. India's Prime Minister at the time, Jawaharlal Nehru, met the spiritual leader and agreed to provide him and his followers with asylum. But according to Claude Arpi, a historian specialising in Tibet, India didn't provide much else. "India will never support Tibet openly and politically, unless there are some truly exceptional circumstances," he says. "But, they have provided some support, allowing the Dalai Lama to educate his people and keep the culture alive." Beijing consistently labelled the Dalai Lama a separatist rebel for his continued campaign for an autonomous Tibet. But he amassed significant global support in exile, particularly after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Political analysts say the Dalai Lama's presence in India gives New Delhi a measure of leverage with rival Beijing. Many call it India's "Tibet card": the threat that India would formally support the Tibetan desire for autonomy. But Aadil Brar, a defence and geopolitical analyst based in Taipei, says that that card is getting weaker: "It's true that India's rise has made the issue more important, but India is sending conflicting signals. On the one hand, there is soft support, but the government is questioning the 'return on investment' it has made for the Tibetan community." Indeed, India formally recognised Tibet as a part of China in 2003 to allow China-India bilateral relations to move forward. The agreement recognised that the Xizang Autonomous Region (the official Chinese name for Tibet) is part of the territory of the People's Republic of China and India would not allow Tibetans to engage in political activities against China in India. The region's two superpowers already have a strained relationship and volatile, fragile border with regular skirmishes occurring along the almost 4,000 km long Line of Actual Control. Some have called for India to play the "Tibet card" in recent years, but it would undeniably only escalate tensions between the world's two most populous countries, together accounting for almost 40 per cent of the global population. But Arpi says that while India's stance has remained cool, the Tibetan community under the leadership of the Dalai Lama has managed to keep its culture alive: "You can hear the language, you can see stupas, prayer flags and monasteries all over India – in Ladakh, Himachal and Sikkim – but no more in the Tibetan homeland." Many Indians also revere the Dalai Lama. Kiren Rijiju, India's minister of minority affairs and a practising Buddhist, sat right next to him at his birthday celebrations and explicitly expressed support for the announcement of his succession, saying that the spiritual leader alone had the right to make the decision. He clarified later that this was a personal opinion, not an official government stance, but it sparked fury from Beijing. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his wishes for the Dalai Lama, prompting China to warn India not to interfere in matters concerning Tibet. Two Dalai Lamas China has been censoring all posts and images in support of the Dalai Lama in China. Brar says that they likely came prepared with a state-approved plan of action and response to the inevitable controversy stirred up during the Dalai Lama's landmark birthday. 'China has invested a lot in Tibet to maintain stability and create new economies, and it has certainly developed the region. Controlling the land – which is vast, rural, and very difficult to control – has been an expensive challenge for China, so it's equally important now for the state to control the narrative," he says. The Chinese state has realised that in order to manage dissent and separatism, it's essential to gain narrative control of a culture that is so linguistically, ethnically and culturally distinct from the mainland. To achieve that, it will likely select its own Dalai Lama after the death of the incumbent Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhist succession. 12:48 The Chinese ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, in response to the support from Indian government officials supporting the Dalai Lama, said on X, "The reincarnation and succession of the Dalai Lama is inherently an internal affair of China. The Chinese government upholds the principle of independence and self-governance in religious affairs and administers the reincarnation of Living Buddhas, including that of the Dalai Lama, in accordance with the law. No interference by any external forces will be allowed." Brar points to a recent "signed" (state-approved) paper by Chinese state media outlet the Global Times, which provides a pointwise explanation of how a Beijing-approved Dalai Lama will be selected. The paper states that 'the management of Tibetan Buddhism affairs is a key responsibility of the central government', adding details of the selection system laid out by the 1793 Qing government, which states that reincarnation of Living Buddhas had to follow the procedure of "drawing lots from the golden urn". The Chinese foreign ministry reiterated that Beijing's top brass must approve the reincarnation. The People's Republic of China officially identifies as an atheist state, which makes this decision to give Tibetans a state-approved spiritual leader even more curious. Arpi says that in this case, geopolitics is a game of culture as much as it is of politics, and that Beijing hopes that providing a new spiritual leader will lessen dissent and protest among the Tibetan community. "China did manage to control and develop Tibet, but they never managed to win over the community. Tibetans cannot freely practise their religion, which is a very central part of the identity. So that's why China believes that if they can control the Dalai Lama, they can control the hearts of Tibetans," says Arpi. However, China's Dalai Lama will undoubtedly represent a Sinicized Buddhism, one that Tibetans in exile (and even within the country) will not easily accept. The current Dalai Lama has a following that extends well beyond Tibet, and even beyond Buddhism, meaning that the likelihood of a second spiritual leader being accepted outside China is low. In his book "Voice for the Voiceless", released in March 2025, the Dalai Lama said his successor would be born in the "free world", outside China. That statement, along with his recent declaration that the centuries-old tradition of succession through reincarnation would continue in the hands of his Gaden Phodrang Trust, based in India, has assured that China's Dalai Lama will not be left unchallenged. 'It's not a region that China can just let be. There's a generation still alive that remembers the Dalai Lama before his exile, and tradition and oral history continues to exist. Their memory cannot be wiped out,' says Brar. But Arpi says that even if the trust finds the next Dalai Lama soon, it could take a decade or longer to train him in a way that would enable him to have any real influence over the community. "This is a significant amount of time for China to assert its influence," he says, adding that there's also a danger that support from India will decline after the death of the incumbent, depending on where the Dalai Lama is born. On the other hand, if the successor is found inside India, it could aggravate neighbouring China even further and force the state to take a stand. But while the question of succession within the Tibetan community holds immense importance, Arpi says that the current Dalai Lama has created a resistance movement that remains strong. "It's what he represents that is more difficult to erase."
AFP
13 hours ago
- AFP
Fabricated pro-Yoon subtitles added to CIA chief's interview
"CIA director: 'A leader like Yoon Suk Yeol is needed to stop China's rise'," reads a Korean-language Facebook post shared on July 7, 2025. The 13-second clip, which is absent of audio, shows John Ratcliffe being interviewed on Fox News; the English-language news chyron says, "Inside the CIA's strategy to counter China's rise" (archived link). Korean-language captions above the chyron read: "John Ratcliffe (CIA director): To counter China's rise, allies like South Korea are very important. For South Korea to remain a trustworthy allied country, someone like President Yoon Suk Yeol needs to be its leader." The posts appeared after South Korea's special counsel requested a new detention warrant for Yoon in connection with his failed martial law bid on December 3, 2024 (archived link). The special counsel said they were requesting the warrant on charges including abuse of power and obstruction of special official duties, and Yoon had also been charged with "falsification of official documents". Yoon was formally stripped of office in April, after being impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his attempt to subvert civilian rule, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament. Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on July 8, 2025, with a red X added by AFP The clip was also shared on multiple South Korean online communities like Naver Band and Ilbe. "President Yoon only tried to restore the people's sovereignty through martial law, it is only right that the US wants him back," read a comment on one of the posts. Another said: "The CIA truly knows how to evaluate a person." The clip's captions, however, are fabricated. China-focused interview A keyword search on Google found the from Ratcliffe's June 7 interview with Lara Trump, which is available on the Fox News verified YouTube channel (archived link). The segment corresponding to the miscaptioned clip runs from about 3:03 to 3:21 marks, where Ratcliffe says: "To your point Lara, when I was DNI (Director of National Intelligence) for President Trump in his first administration, you recall we were accused of outsizing China as a threat." He continues, "It was a peaceful China, right? Now after Covid, after the Taiwan aggression, after flying spycraft over the United States for eight days during the Biden administration, stealing our intellectual property, taking advantage of us on trade, no one is saying that anymore." Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely captioned video (left) and the Fox News interview posted to YouTube (right), with timestamps included below At no point in the does Ratcliffe mention South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, or South Korean domestic politics. Other excerpts of the interview on the Fox News website also show the interview focused on US-China relations, spycraft, and the reforming of the CIA (archived here and here). As of July 8, there have been no official reports about Ratcliffe or any other CIA official discussing Yoon. AFP has also previously debunked other false claims about US President Donald Trump supposedly expressing support for Yoon.
Euronews
17 hours ago
- Euronews
Is the EU doing enough to integrate Ukrainian defence tech?
Just before launching its EU presidency last week, Denmark inked a €67 million agreement with Ukraine to let their defence companies build their designs on Danish soil - the first of its kind. 'This is a major contribution to Ukraine's fight for freedom, as well as to the Danish and European armament,' Morten Bødskov, Denmark's minister of industry, business and financial affairs, said in a press release last month. This first deal between Ukraine and Denmark will 'ensure a higher degree of integration' for Ukraine in Europe's wider rearmament, the statement continued. The agreement comes a month after Ukraine launched an international joint weapons production programme with its allied countries to build 'licensed production lines for Ukrainian weapons in partner countries'. But do these recent efforts go far enough? How are European countries building Ukrainian tech? There are already several projects in play between Ukraine and private industry in Europe, such as the UK's production of the Raybird surveillance drone, a 'flexible fixed-wing' 20-kilogram drone that can be deployed in under 25 minutes and can fly for roughly 28 hours over a 2,500-kilometre range. A French auto manufacturer will produce first-person view (FPV) drones in Ukraine, with France's armed forces minister Sebastien Lecornu calling it a 'win-win partnership' in French media. Le Monde reported that automaker Renault was approached for this work. Sweden's SAAB, Norway's Kongsberg, French-German KNDS, Germany's Rheinmetall, and the US's Raytheon are reportedly expanding their presence on the ground, according to a June press release from Ukraine's ministry of defence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that his country struck more deals with European allies and a leading US defence company to 'step up drone production'. Zelenskyy didn't name the businesses in his address. Euronews Next has followed up with the Ukrainian government to find out more about the deals that have been signed but did not receive a reply at the time of publication. Ukraine is also working on draft legislation for joint weapons production with allies that should be put to a vote in their parliament later this month, according to Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's defence minister. The programme includes plans to create a special legal and tax framework to help Ukrainian defence manufacturers scale up and modernise production, including building new facilities at home and abroad, Umerov said. 'We are not included in the common planning' These projects are a promising first step but Ukraine is still not included in the 'common planning' that the European Union is doing regarding its rearmament, said Olena Bilousova, senior research lead of military at the Kyiv School of Economics. She added that American-made M982 Excalibur shells dropped in efficiency to reach their targets from 70 per cent to six per cent as Russia continues to advance its electronic warfare (EW). This is a form of artillery that the EU has sent to Ukraine in the past. 'There are a lot of cases like that when we understand that the weapons which were common and still common in procurement of the EU should be reviewed [or] at least … modernised,' she told Euronews Next. Ukraine's reliance on drones as a 'cheap solution' in its offensives against Russia is also misunderstood by Ukraine's allies, Bilousova added, noting that the country should be able to build drone procurement strategies with its partners. It doesn't mean that Europe should be focused only on procuring drones, Bilousova continued, but that Ukraine should develop with them 'new strategies around conventional weapons,' including how many are needed and how they can be protected against drones. Bilousova said Ukraine could also teach Europe how to speed up the development of new battle-tested technologies based on their model. Ukraine uses the 'Danish model' of military procurement to develop a new technology from idea to product testing on the battlefield, which takes anywhere from three to six months, compared to traditional weapons procurement, which usually takes up to 18 months. Ukraine can do this through earmarking an estimated $30.8 billion (€29.4 billion) in 2023 for the war effort, a level that is 20 times higher than the pre-2022 invasion level, a recent report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found. Crowdfunding through platforms such as United24 has also raised over $1 billion (€950 million) and distributed approximately $930 million (€884.61 million) of that to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the last three years. Both pots of money are then redistributed to Brave1, a 'united coordinational platform' that provides more than 470 grants worth an estimated 1.3 billion hryvnias (€29 million). Pan-European approach to Ukraine defence tech 'unlikely' Bilousova said it's not clear what forum would be the best to bring in Ukraine as a 'consultant' for rearmament. But a pan-European initiative to get Ukraine fully integrated into rearmament might not be possible because time is 'of the essence,' said Jacob Kirkegaard, senior fellow with the Bruegel think tank. 'The vast majority of this integration will happen at the bilateral level and will be driven by Ukraine's desperate need for more weapons and the willingness by many member states … to provide the money,' he told Euronews Next. 'That is not, unfortunately, a capability that the EU has as a whole'. However, it doesn't stop the Commission from identifying 'target projects' that would be of shared interest with Ukraine, such as developing advanced air defence, drone surveillance for subsea internet cables or cybersecurity, Kirkegaard continued. The EU has already activated a €150 billion "SAFE" loan instrument that lets states borrow money for joint defence projects. At least 65 per cent of the weapons' components have to be sourced from within the EU or Ukraine. It's also launched a joint EU-Ukraine task force to integrate Ukraine into the 'defence-tech ecosystem'. However, Bilousova said that if the Commission doesn't step back and create a longer-term plan, the weapons it invests in could be 'ineffective' and delayed for the next conflict. 'I think it is always a good time to make a strategy even if war is already in place,' she said.
