Geneva [Switzerland], October 4 (ANI): China at an event held on the sidelines of the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council tried to meddle in choosing the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

In an event, namely the "International Webinar on the Religious Rituals and Historical Customs of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas," the Chinese Government claimed to have "reaffirmed" its jurisdiction over Dalai Lama's reincarnation, reported Tibet Rights Collective (TRC).

This comes after the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Kashag (Cabinet) had recently asserted its position that "no government nor any individual has the right to interfere" in the matter of the Dalai Lama's reincarnation.

"The affairs related to the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama belong to the domestic affairs of Tibetan Buddhism in China, which must respect the wishes of the Chinese Tibetan Buddhist community and the majority of religious believers, and accept the management of the Chinese government," the report quoted Zheng Dui, Senior Fellow and Director-General at the China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC).

He reportedly added that this claim "not only has sufficient historical basis, but also conforms to the provisions of the current law, which any separatist forces cannot shake".

China unlawfully invaded Tibet and continues to carry out its attempts to Sinicize Tibet even today. China also claims that Tibet has been a part of China despite multiple historical proofs that Tibet has always been an independent country, reported TRC.

Ten experts and scholars of related studies reportedly made speeches from an offline venue at the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing during the event, demonstrating "the development of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, the religious rituals and historical customs of the reincarnation, and the practice of the sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism".

The management of the reincarnation affairs of the Living Buddhas, including the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, is a social responsibility that the Chinese central government must perform throughout the course of history, Wang Yanzhong, director at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences reportedly noted.

"The localization and sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism is an inevitable requirement for the survival and development of the religion itself," Jewon Koondhor, "a returned Tibetan from Switzerland" was quoted to have said, reported TRC.

This seminar, along with other attempts (workshops, discussion forums, workshops, propaganda through social media) being made to spread Chinese propaganda, have to be seen as a tool in CCP's tool kit to control the narrative and assert its wrongful claim over not just Tibet, but its religion, culture and tradition.

This comes ahead of CCP's 20th Party Congress, which is scheduled to be held this month and will elect President Xi Jinping for the third term. (ANI)