Dalai Lama appointed by China 'is going to be a fake one', exiled former Tibetan leader says

In an interview with FRANCE 24, exiled former Tibetan leader Lobsang Sangay said any successor to the Dalai Lama appointed by China "is going to be a fake one". He also likened Beijing's ethnic unity law to "an ethnic erasure", said Tibetan concerns had been "downgraded a bit" in US-China talks and accused China of failing to warn of the deadly August floods on the Nepal-Tibet border.

Speaking to FRANCE 24, Lobsang Sangay, who headed the Tibetan government-in-exile from 2011 to 2021, rejected Beijing's claim to choose the 91-year-old Dalai Lama's successor. "The one selected by his office and by our monks will be the real one," he said, rather than "the one appointed by China, which is going to be a fake one".

Beijing's law on "promoting ethnic unity and progress", which came into force on July 1, is "like an ethnic erasure or assimilation", Sangay said, warning that it "can extend beyond China's border".

China 'main beneficiary' of Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump hosted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Washington last month. Asked about this, the former leader of Tibet's government-in-exile said Tibetan concerns had been "downgraded a bit" as Washington seeks more trade with Beijing. Sangay also called China the "main beneficiary" of the war in Ukraine.

Sangay accused China of failing to do its best to save lives and give timely warnings during the deadly floods that hit the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26. "The death toll provided by the Chinese government is less than 100, when we know hundreds on the Tibet side are missing even today," he said.