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Sino-Indian Relations and the Search for the Next Dalai Lama
The People’s Republic of China has grown increasingly anxious about maintaining stability in its western regions, particularly Xinjiang and Tibet, where ethnic and religious minorities have staged large-scale protests and riots in the last two years. Beijing has repeatedly blamed the Dalai Lama for the Tibetan riots. The Communist Party Secretary in Tibet, Zhang Qingli, called the spiritual leader "a wolf wrapped in a monk’s habit, a monster with a human face and animal's heart” and bluntly acknowledged the tense state of relations, saying: “We are now engaged in a fierce blood-and-fire battle with the Dali clique, a life-and-death battle between us and the enemy." The harsh rhetoric has deepened the mistrust between the Tibetan people and the Chinese leadership. Beijing has similarly rejected the Dalai Lama’s repeated calls for constructive dialogue.