TOKYO: The quest for greater Tibetan rights under Chinese rule will continue even after the Dalai Lama dies, a senior envoy to the spiritual leader said in Japan today.

“What we believe very strongly is that the issue of Tibet will not die,” said Tempa Tsering, the chief representative of the Buddhist monk who has been based in India after fleeing his Himalayan homeland in 1959. “Once his holiness is dead and his soul is in the air, whatever guidance he gives ... they’ll follow it,” said Tsering, the former foreign minister of the Tibetan government in exile in India. China indicated in March it would take a hard line on the selection of a successor to the 74-year-old Dalai Lama.

Qiangba Puncog, Tibet’s former governor, insisted the final decision on the reincarnated successors to the Buddhist top lamas lies with Beijing.

Many Tibet experts believe China is waiting for him to die and then install its own Tibetan spiritual leader.