The statement comes ahead of his 90th birthday on 6 July 2025, during a week of celebration, conferences, and prayer in Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile.

He writes that, over the past 14 years, he has received messages from all around the world pleading with him to continue the institution of the Dalai Lama. In particular he highlights the messages that he has received from Tibetans inside of Tibet, where external communication is extremely limited.

The Dalai Lama states that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust - the Office of the Dalai Lama - in consultation with heads of Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors has the responsibility for identifying and recognising all future Dalai Lamas.
www.dalailama.com/news/stateme...

📢 With an announcement expected on the future of his succession, we reaffirm: Only His Holiness and the Tibetan people decides — not the Chinese Government.

Tag us in your birthday wishes so we can share the love. #DalaiLama90 #LongLiveTheDalaiLama #FreeTibet

💛 As we honour his birthday on Sunday 6th July, we’re dedicating our platforms to celebrating his legacy and amplifying your messages of love and solidarity.

The festival betrayed its own mission of amplifying "fractured voices" by instead platforming state propaganda. Cultural institutions must resist becoming unwitting participants in cultural erasure. Authentic Tibetan voices deserve to be heard, not silenced.

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freetibet.org/latest/tibet...

This is especially painful given Nepal's deep historical ties with Tibet. For centuries, these cultures have been intertwined through trade routes, religious traditions, and shared Buddhist heritage. Nepal, as Buddha's birthplace, holds special responsibility for this spiritual legacy.

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Films like ‘Life of Buda’ frame China’s 1950 military intervention as ‘peaceful liberation’, a characterization that stands in stark opposition to the real history of China’s invasion of an independent country.

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The propaganda films being screened aren't harmless stories. They portray Tibet as "free and happy" under Chinese rule, while the reality is a police state where Tibetan children are separated from families and forced into boarding schools to study "Xi Jinping thought."

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Two of the signatories, filmmakers Dhondup Wangchen and Golog Jigme, paid a devastating price for authentic storytelling. After making "Leaving Fear Behind" - featuring Tibetans speaking truthfully about life under occupation - they were arrested, tortured, and imprisoned.

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The term ‘Xizang’ isn't just geography - it's part of China's calculated campaign to erase "Tibet" from international discourse. This comes as Xi Jinping has launched an escalated phase of coercive assimilation targeting Tibet's linguistic, cultural, and religious identity.

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“Even so, the sale to unknown bidders online does not negate the irrefutable evidence of Britain’s unique connection with Tibet as an independent country.”

“In telegrams, letters and photos, the Basil Gould collection documents vividly the gathering darkness of 1940s Tibet before China’s invasion.”

Free Tibet calls on international governments to press the Chinese government for his immediate release.

As a matter of urgency, Dorje Tashi’s family should be allowed to visit him and to establish details of his health and welfare.

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Seventeen years on, after exhausting official routes, Dorje Tashi’s siblings have turned to bold public appeals and advocacy to demand justice for their brother. Dorje Tashi’s elder sister Gonpo Kyi has staged sit-ins in front of the People’s Court in Lhasa.

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On April 29, prison officials refused to allow Dorje Tsetan and Chinese lawyer Wang Fei to visit, citing an unexplained violation of prison rules. Dorje Tsetan, had waited at the facility for several days. He described the denial of access to his brother as 'unbearable'.

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