The United States wants the United Nations to take up the Dalai Lama’s succession issue to stop China from handpicking his successor. An envoy said this after meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader.

US Ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom   Sam Brownback said he spoke at length about the succession issue with the 84-year-old Dalai Lama last week at Dharamsala in India. He told Dalai Lama that the United States would seek to build global support for the principle that the choice of the next spiritual chief belongs to the Tibetan Buddhists and not the Chinese Government.