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14th Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama is the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He was born in 1935 and was selected as the 14th Dalai Lama at the age of two. Many Tibetans around the world regard the Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader. He fled from China in 1959 and has not returned since. He is known as a charismatic speaker and lifelong advocate for human rights and religious freedom for Tibetans inside Tibet.

Born

6 Jul 1935

Industry

Religion, Politics

Job Title

14th Dalai Lama

last updated:

7 October, 2024

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, pictured at his Himalayan residence on December 20, is the subject of a succession debate. He says he will address it next year after he turns 90. Photo: Reuters

China’s Communist Party

China’s ideology tsar signals to Dalai Lama at Buddhism reincarnation exhibit

China’s fourth senior official Wang Huning visits China Tibetology Research Centre, as officials vow national unity and ethnic solidarity.

25 Dec 2024 - 8:00PMvideocam

China’s Communist Party

Buddhists urged to obey reincarnation rules as Dalai Lama mulls successor

6 Sep 2024 - 12:00PM

Hong Kong Basic Law

Opinion | Deng Xiaoping and the Tibet factor in ‘one country, two systems’

4 Sep 2024 - 10:20AMvideocam

Tibet

China warns US not to allow ‘separatist activities’ by Dalai Lama

Beijing protests to Washington after the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader meets senior American officials in New York.

22 Aug 2024 - 7:50PMvideocam

The Dalai Lama (centre) has been visiting the US since June, when he travelled to New York for medical treatment. Photo: Kyodo

China-India relations

US lawmakers meeting Modi after Dalai Lama signals India shift on China: analysts

India, one expert says, has ‘indicated that it is willing to gradually ramp up pressure on issues like Tibet and Taiwan’.

21 Jun 2024 - 6:05AMvideocam

China’s Communist Party

Xi visits Tibetans and temple in China, calls for ethnic unity

Xi urges provincial leaders to make Qinghai a national clean-energy highland, international ecotourism destination and green export base.

21 Jun 2024 - 5:50AMvideocam

US-China relations

US lawmakers meet Tibet’s Dalai Lama, pressure China on talks

The group, which includes ex-House speaker Nancy Pelosi, says it won’t let China influence the spiritual leader’s choice of successor.

20 Jun 2024 - 3:25AM

The Dalai Lama exchanges greetings with former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi during their meeting at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India, on Wednesday. Photo: Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama via Reuters

US-China relations

China warns US over congressional delegation’s trip to meet with the Dalai Lama

Washington should ‘have no contact with the Dalai group in any form, and stop sending the wrong signal to the world’, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman says.

19 Jun 2024 - 11:51AM

US-China relations

US lawmakers to meet Dalai Lama on India trip next week

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among a group of US lawmakers visiting Dharamsala – where the 88-Tibetan spiritual leader lives in exile – on June 18 and 19.

14 Jun 2024 - 3:35PM

US-China relations

US lawmakers pass bill that questions China’s claims over Tibet

Bill that frames Beijing’s control over Tibet for centuries as ‘disinformation’ will head to President Joe Biden’s desk.

13 Jun 2024 - 1:05AM

Tibet

Dalai Lama to visit US for knee treatment this month, his office says

Washington did not confirm whether any meetings were set for Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader and US officials during the June trip.

4 Jun 2024 - 1:03PMvideocam

Tibet

Hundreds of exiled Tibetans march in India asking China to leave Tibet

The protesters, carrying Tibetan flags and photographs of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, were commemorating the 1959 uprising against Beijing.

10 Mar 2024 - 8:13PMvideocam

Human rights in China

China to more tightly control ethnic minority discussion to temper ‘risks’

Article in Communist Party’s Qiushi journal calls for greater oversight and for officials to ‘promptly and appropriately’ address grievances involving issues related to ethnic minority groups.

2 Feb 2024 - 2:56PMvideocam

Year in Review

Asia’s weird year: Dalai Lama’s gaffe, a ‘puking’ bird and AirAsia’s topless CEO

What do the Dalai Lama, AirAsia’s CEO and an ex-Singaporean comedian have in common? They are on our list of Asia’s weirdest stories in 2023.

28 Dec 2023 - 5:40PMvideocam

The Dalai Lama’s slip of the tongue was one of the more oddball stories to catch our attention in 2023. Photo: Kyodo

Tibet

Are China officials aiming to charm the neighbours over next Dalai Lama choice?

Regional visits by Tibet’s party chief and chairman may be part of an attempt to win support from Buddhists on succession issue.

8 Dec 2023 - 2:26PMvideocam

Tibet

Chinese academics want Tibet to be known as Xizang to help ‘reconstruct’ image

Official seminar told that the international community has been ‘seriously misled’ over the region’s ‘geographical scope’.

17 Aug 2023 - 5:45PMvideocam

Tibet

As the clock ticks, is Beijing ready to renew talks with the Dalai Lama?

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader says Chinese officials have reached out, adding he is ‘always open to talk’.

23 Jul 2023 - 11:58AMvideocam

Australia

Exiled Tibetan leader warns Chinese downturn could prompt a Taiwan, India attack

‘Right now my analysis is if there is a threat to the survival of the Communist Party then they will definitely attack one of these places’, Tibetan political leader-in-exile Penpa Tsering told an event in Australia.

21 Jun 2023 - 4:30PM

A Chinese serviceman looks through binoculars during combat exercises and naval training drills held in the waters around Taiwan in August last year in response to then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-ruled island. Photo: Xinhua

Dalai Lama shares Buddhist teachings after viral video controversy

5 Jun 2023 - 9:16PM

India

Is Dalai Lama’s ‘suck my tongue’ remark a Tibetan tradition or abuse?

Many social media users have termed the Dalai Lama’s behaviour as ‘creepy’ and ‘disgusting’, but Tibetans say their culture has been misconstrued and hypersexualised.

22 Apr 2023 - 11:30AMvideocam

Tibet

Tibetan exile leader defends Dalai Lama over ‘suck my tongue’ video

Penpa Tsering, president of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said the negative reaction to the viral footage ‘really hurts us’.

14 Apr 2023 - 2:59PMvideocam

Tibet

‘It’s a joke’: Dalai Lama apologises for asking boy to suck his tongue

11 Apr 2023 - 5:45PM

02:50

Tibet

Dalai Lama apologises for asking boy to suck his tongue

Sticking one’s tongue out can be form of greeting in Tibet; statement said monk ‘regrets incident’.

11 Apr 2023 - 3:52PMvideocam

Tibet

Will Tibetans’ ‘middle way’ approach to China ties keep peace in the region?

The Dalai Lama’s ‘middle way’– not going to extremes – does not demand independence from Chinese rule but urges a high degree of autonomy. Beijing considers the spiritual leader to be a separatist.

9 Jan 2023 - 6:50PMvideocam

China-India relations

China-India relations remain chilly amid Jaishankar’s diplomatic barrage at UN

In New York, world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly and a BRICS foreign ministers meeting is scheduled, but the top Chinese and Indian diplomats have no plans to talk.

21 Sep 2022 - 5:26AMvideocam

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has more than 50 official engagements scheduled during an 11-day visit to the United States that starts this week. Photo: Reuters

US-China relations

US House bill aims to press China to restart Tibet talks with Dalai Lama

The bipartisan legislation would make it official US policy that Tibetans have the right to ‘self-determination’.

14 Jul 2022 - 9:31AM

Tibet

Dalai Lama urges move to renewable energy

‘We need to take urgent steps to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and adopt renewable sources of energy such as … wind and the power of the sun,’ the 86-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader said.

23 Apr 2022 - 11:55PM

Tibet

US announces new special coordinator for Tibetan issues

Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya will be tasked with restarting dialogue between the Dalai Lama and China, as well as promoting ‘respect for the human rights’ of Tibetans.

21 Dec 2021 - 6:29AMvideocam

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