China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission.

While the current 72-year-old Dalai Lama thinks about his political and spiritual successor, he has learned that the Chinese governing council has proclaimed that any unlawful reincarnation will be punished by death-by-firing-squad.

The Dalai Lama has claimed that he will “refuse to be reincarnated in Tibet so long as it’s under Chinese control”.