The Dalai Lama has announced that he will have a successor after his death, continuing a centuries-old tradition that has become a flashpoint in the struggle with China’s Communist Party over Tibet’s future.

Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader made the declaration on Wednesday in a video message to religious elders gathering in Dharamshala, India, where the Nobel Peace laureate has lived since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese communist rule in 1959.

“I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,” the Dalai Lama said in the pre-recorded video, citing requests he received over the years from Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhists urging him to do so.

“The Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” he added, using the formal name for the office of the Dalai Lama.

The office should carry out the procedures of search and recognition of the future dalai lama “in accordance with past tradition,” he said, without revealing further details on the process.

The Dalai Lama has previously stated that when he is about 90 years old, he will consult the high lamas of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan public to re-evaluate whether the institution of the dalai lama should continue.

Wednesday’s announcement – delivered days before his 90th birthday this Sunday – sets the stage for a high-stakes battle over his succession, between Tibetan leaders in exile and China’s atheist Communist Party, which insists it alone holds the authority to approve the next dalai lama.

In a memoir published in March, the Dalai Lama states that his successor will be born in the “free world” outside China, urging his followers to reject any candidate selected by Beijing.

That could lead to the emergence of two rival dalai lamas: one chosen by his predecessor, the other by the Chinese Communist Party, experts say.

“Both the Tibetan exile community and the Chinese government want to influence the future of Tibet, and they see the next Dalai Lama as the key to do so,” said Ruth Gamble, an expert in Tibetan history at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

Samdhong Rinpoche, a senior official at the Dalai Lama’s office, told reporters on Wednesday that any further information about the procedures or methods of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation would not be revealed to the public until the succession takes place.

Struggle over succession

Over a lifetime in exile, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has become synonymous with Tibet and its quest for genuine autonomy under Beijing’s tightening grip on the Himalayan region.

From his adopted hometown of Dharamshala, where he established a government-in-exile, the spiritual leader has unified Tibetans at home and in exile and elevated their plight onto the global stage.

That has made the Dalai Lama a persistent thorn in the side of Beijing, which denounces him as a dangerous “separatist” and a “wolf in monk’s robes.”

Since the 1970s, the Dalai Lama has maintained that he no longer seeks full independence for Tibet, but “meaningful” autonomy that would allow Tibetans to preserve their distinct culture, religion and identity. His commitment to the nonviolent “middle way” approach has earned him international support and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The Dalai Lama has long been wary of Beijing’s attempt to meddle with the reincarnation system of Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhists believe in the circle of rebirth, and that when an enlightened spiritual master like the Dalai Lama dies, he will be able to choose the place and time of his rebirth through the force of compassion and prayer.

But the religious tradition has increasingly become a battleground for the control of Tibetan hearts and minds, especially since the contested reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in the religion.

In 1995, years after the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, Beijing installed its own panchen lama in defiance of the Dalai Lama, whose pick for the role – a six-year-old boy – has since vanished from public view.

Under Tibetan tradition, the dalai lamas and the panchen lamas have long played key roles in recognizing each other’s reincarnations. Experts believe Beijing will seek to interfere in the current Dalai Lama’s succession in a similar way.

“There’s a whole series of high-level reincarnated lamas cultivated by the Chinese government to work with it inside Tibet. (Beijing) will call on all of those to help establish the Dalai Lama that they pick inside Tibet,” Gamble said. “There’s been a long-term plan to work toward this.”

Beijing has repeatedly said that the reincarnation of all Living Buddhas – or high-ranking lamas in Tibetan Buddhism – must comply with Chinese laws and regulations, with search and identification conducted in China and approved by the central government.

A “resolution of gratitude” statement released by Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders gathering in Dharamshala on Wednesday said they “strongly condemn the People’s Republic of China’s usage of reincarnation subject for their political gain” and “will never accept it.”

For his part, the current Dalai Lama has made clear that any candidate appointed by Beijing will hold no legitimacy in the eyes of Tibetans or followers of Tibetan Buddhism.

“It is totally inappropriate for Chinese Communists, who explicitly reject religion, including the idea of past and future lives, to meddle in the system of reincarnation of lamas, let alone that of the Dalai Lama,” he writes in his latest memoir, “Voice for the Voiceless.”

Catherine, Princess of Wales visited a wellbeing garden at Colchester Hospital on Wednesday, marking her first public appearance since she unexpectedly dropped out of an appearance at Royal Ascot two weeks ago.

Kate visited the hospital garden in the southeast of England to “celebrate the incredible healing power of nature,” according to Kensington Palace.

During the visit, the princess also met with patients and staff at the hospital’s Cancer Wellbeing Centre “to understand how gardens in healthcare settings play a crucial role in promoting good health outcomes, preventing poor health and supporting increased recovery time,” the palace said.

Kate, 43, has underlined the importance of nature in her health journey over the last year.

“Over the past year, nature has been my sanctuary,” she said in a video posted on X to mark Mental Health Awareness Week in May.

Kate revealed her cancer diagnosis and that she had started chemotherapy last March. As she underwent treatment, she stepped back from public life and only made a few rare appearances last summer. In September, she announced she had completed chemotherapy and was “doing what I can to stay cancer free.”

Although she has taken on more appearances this year, the popular royal is understood to be working to find the right balance as she returns to public duties after treatment.

Before dropping out of Ascot at short notice, Kate had attended a number of engagements in recent weeks, including two major events in the royal calendar, the Trooping the Colour parade in London and the Order of the Garter service in Windsor.

She resumed in-person duties last week when she and Prince William invited Melinda French Gates for a meeting at Windsor Castle. They were understood to have discussed their philanthropic work, according to Britain’s PA Media news agency.

Kate’s visit to Colchester Hospital on Wednesday coincided with the hospital accepting a donation of 50 “Catherine’s Rose” plants, a specially-bred rose named in her honor by the Royal Horticultural Society. She planted some of these roses, which, when sold commercially, will have their proceeds donated to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

Kate has become deeply involved in the charity since her diagnosis. In January, Kensington Palace announced that she had been named the joint patron of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the specialist cancer center in Chelsea, west London, where she was treated.

Funds from the sale of these roses will be used to help the charity establish a specialist program helping cancer patients live well with the disease, and after their treatment has been completed.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has approved a law to halt cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a move which will likely obscure any attempt by Tehran to restart its damaged nuclear program.

Wednesday’s decision comes a week after Iran’s parliament passed a law to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. Iran blames the IAEA for collaborating with Israel and providing a pathway for strikes on its nuclear facilities, an accusation which the agency denies.

Pezeshkian ordered Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, the Supreme National Security Council, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin implementing the law, state-run news agency IRNA said.

It’s unclear when and how the new law will be implemented, but the decision could pave the way for Iran to rebuild its nuclear program without inspections or monitoring from the IAEA. Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which requires members to allow monitoring and inspections of facilities to confirm the peaceful nature of nuclear programs.

Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran last month that targeted its military commanders, nuclear facilities and the scientists who develop its atomic program. In the week that followed, the United States launched supportive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. A 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran ended with a ceasefire last week.

Iran said its facilities were badly damaged in the attacks but that it intends to continue enriching uranium to continue its “peaceful” nuclear program. On Sunday, the IAEA said US strikes on Iran fell short of causing total damage to the program and that Tehran could restart enriching uranium “in a matter of months.”

Days before Israel attacked the Iranian facilities, the IAEA said it could not verify that Tehran’s nuclear program is entirely peaceful and issued a report saying Iran was enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.

That document triggered an IAEA resolution censuring Iran, fueling outrage across the Iranian government who accuse the agency and its director general, Rafael Grossi, of being biased.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has repeatedly denied Iran is building a bomb and says weapons of mass destruction are forbidden under Islam. The country began enriching uranium to higher levels after US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear agreement signed between the Obama administration and Iran.