"The Dalai Lama has set his millions of followers on a direct collision course with Beijing by announcing plans for his reincarnation and succession that will exclude involvement of the Communist Party...."

"He was identified by senior monks as the 13th Dalai Lama’s reincarnation when he was a baby, and confirmed in his position in 1939. At the time, Tibet had been effectively independent of China since the collapse of the Qing dynasty.... Being based on reincarnation, the matter of the succession of senior lamas has created an ideological problem for the Communist Party.... The party requires members to be officially atheist, even though this is widely ignored. However, it also demands the right to vet the senior figures of all state-sanctioned religions, including Christian bishops. In the case of Tibetan Buddhism, the party demands the right to supervise the reincarnation of lamas. This week, party newspapers have given wide space to historians discussing its preferred 'golden urn lot-drawing' method of identifying lamas. This was a system introduced when its predecessors in the Forbidden City, the Qing emperors, attempted to assert tighter control of Tibet, which they had conquered in 1720. A stern editorial by the state news agency Xinhua, and signed by an approved Chinese Tibetologist, damned in advance any attempt by the Dalai Lama to control his own succession... The Dalai Lama’s own statement was more confrontational than some had expected. He had in the past openly speculated about whether he would reincarnate at all.... Now, he has not only effectively confirmed his reincarnation, but left it open as to when and where it will happen, saying that it will be up to his office, the Gaden Phodrang Trust — and no one else — to find him...."

From "Dalai Lama’s reincarnation plan sets him up for clash with China/The Tibetan Buddhist leader’s decision to ignore Beijing’s demands for control over the succession process enrages the Communist Party" (London Times).