China cannot choose the next Dalai Lama: US

A top US diplomat has said 'China has no right to pick the new Dalai Lama and that the Tibetan Buddhists have successfully picked their spiritual leader for so many years.  After speaking to many Buddhists in Dharamshala, Samuel Brownback assured the US supports the religious community to pick their own leadership as it is their right and China has no theological basis to do that. The 14th Dalai Lama has been living in India since 1959 after he was forced to leave Tibet following a Chinese crackdown on an uprising by the locals.