High ranking Chinese official says Dalai Lama is 'making a fool' of Buddhism after he suggested he may be reincarnated 'as a bee or mischievous blond girl'
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A top Chinese official has blasted the Dalai Lama claiming he is 'making a fool' of Buddhism by suggesting he may not reincarnate when he dies.
Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the ethnic and religious affairs committee of the top advisory body to China's parliament, said the Dalai Lama had to respect tradition.
Tibetan Buddhism believes that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death.
![The Dalai Lama - who fled into exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 - is being accused of adopting a 'useless' approach by suggesting he may be reincarnated as an animal or 'something entirely inappropriate'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/03/28/16/3261AF9C00000578-3512583-image-a-1_1459177785615.jpg)
The Dalai Lama - who fled into exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 - is being accused of adopting a 'useless' approach by suggesting he may be reincarnated as an animal or 'something entirely inappropriate'
However, the Dalai Lama - who fled into exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 - is being accused of adopting a 'useless' approach by suggesting he may be reincarnated as an animal or 'something entirely inappropriate'.
Writing in the state-run Global Times, Mr Weiqun wrote: 'The Dalai Lama continues to proclaim his reincarnation is a "purely religious matter" and something only he can decide, but he has no way to compel admiration from the faithful.
'He's been proclaiming he'll reincarnate as a foreigner, as a bee, as a "mischievous blond girl", or even proposing a living reincarnation or an end to reincarnation.
'All of this, quite apart from making a fool of Tibetan Buddhism, is completely useless when it comes to extricating him from the difficulty of reincarnation,' wrote Zhu, who was involved in the past in Beijing's failed efforts to talk to the Dalai Lama's representatives.'
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader is considered a violent separatist by China.
He denies espousing violence and insists he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet.
The comments against him come as early election results put the leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, on course for a second term, part of a strategy to sustain a decades-old struggle for greater autonomy for its Chinese-ruled homeland.
![Tibetan Buddhism believes that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/03/28/16/2A44CDCC00000578-3512583-image-a-2_1459177925147.jpg)
Tibetan Buddhism believes that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death
China says the tradition must continue and its officially atheist Communist leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor, as a right inherited from China's emperors.
A senior aide to the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Taklha, said there was 'no way' Tibetans would accept a successor appointed by China.
'The Chinese are following an absurd agenda and we continue to reject it,' he said.
In 2011, the Dalai Lama called on exiled Tibetans to nominate an elected leader, or 'Sikyong', to lead the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). Sangay was on track to win re-election with over 65 percent backing in the March 20 vote.
'I hope to do much better. Both on political terms, by holding dialogue with the Chinese, and working on welfare issues in the next five years,' he told Reuters.
China does not recognize the CTA, which is based in India's Himalayan town of Dharamsala and represents nearly 100,000 exiled Tibetans living in 30 countries including India, Nepal, Canada and the United States.
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