Elucidating earlier comments, the Dalai Lama said yesterday that the next Dalai Lama, traditionally “chosen” by reincarnation, could be democratically elected. The move is an apparent bid to keep China from appointing a lackey as his successor.

For centuries, the search for the reincarnation of religious leaders, known as lamas – including the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual head – has been carried out by Tibetan monks following the leaders’ deaths, says the AP.

The 72-year-old spiritual leader appears in good health, so this may not come to pass for some time yet, the DL himself says “detailed discussions have not yet started.” Still, China is ticked.

“The Dalai Lama’s statement is in blatant violation of religious practice and historical procedure,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.

China criticizing the Dalai Lama for breaking with Tibet’s religious tradition? Don’t be ridiculous says his envoy, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari: “Such an uninformed response from Beijing betrays its own lack of legitimacy in this area. His Holiness was referring to options that exist in the future and that are deeply rooted in Tibetan Buddhist practice.”

“This is a religious matter, and His Holiness and Tibetan Buddhist leaders are far more competent to interpret Buddhist traditions than atheist members of the Communist Party of China. His Holiness has a historical and moral responsibility to the Tibetan people to safeguard the authenticity and purity of Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and in order to fulfill that duty he is sharing some of the possibilities for the future regarding the institution of the Dalai Lama. His Holiness has shared such views on other occasions over the past few decades since he arrived in exile,” Gyaltsen continued.