The hunt for the next Dalai Lama

寻访下任达赖喇嘛

Today in Focus

2025-07-28

26 分钟
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The Guardian’s south Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, and the Tibet activist Lhadon Tethong discuss the battle between Buddhist monks and the Chinese state over the successor to the Dalai Lama. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
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  • This is The Guardian. Hello, Jonathan Friedland here,

  • host of the Guardian's Politics Weekly America podcast.

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  • Every year, the Dalai Lama's birthday draws thousands to Dharamshala,

  • the mountain town in northern India that's become the centre of Tibetan life in exile.

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  • It's a geopolitical standoff.

  • The Dalai Lama says only his trusted Tibetan inner circle can decide who comes next.

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