US politicians openly challenge Beijing and pledge to determine the successor to the Dalai Lama

U.S. lawmakers, including Nancy Pelosi, defied China by meeting the Dalai Lama in India and vowing that only they can decide the Tibetan spiritual leader's succession, not Beijing.

A delegation of U. S. legislators led by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met the Dalai Lama in his base in Dharamsala, India on Monday. They all argued that only they and not China had the right to choose the reincarnation of the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The seven-member Congressional delegation arrived in Tenzin Tsomchoe Dratsang despite protests by the Chinese authorities who consider the Dalai Lama as a secessionist leader. China says Beijing has the right to decide on its successor, following imperial Chinese practice.

However, Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who led the U. S. group, categorically disagreed with China. McCaul said after meeting the 88-year-old Dalai Lama at his monastery, “We will not let China happen. ”

Pelosi also stood along the lines of McCaul regarding the U. S legislation called the Resolve Tibet Act that aims at seeking a diplomatic resolution of the dispute between Beijing and the Tibetan leaders on the status of the region. "This bill says to the Chinese government: things have changed now, get ready for that,” she told a group of Tibet supporters.

The visit symbolizes the latest tension between the U. S. and China over Tibet. The most famous exile is the Dalai Lama who left Tibet in 1959 after an uprising against Chinese rule was crushed and has been in exile for over 60 years. The Chinese government in Beijing has always accused him of secretly striving to make Tibet an independent country.

No U. S. president has met the Dalai Lama since Joe Biden came to power in 2021, but the Tibetan spiritual leader is going to visit the United States next week for medical reasons.

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The Chinese said it was ‘seriously concerned’ with the U. S. delegation’s trip and warned the lawmakers against meeting with the ‘Dalai clique’ In contrast, the Americans were warmly welcomed by the Tibetan monks, nuns, and school children in Dharamsala.