The Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that a trust he founded had the sole prerogative to decide on his successor, and that no one else had the authority to interfere in the matter.

The Tibetan spiritual leader’s statement came in the context of Beijing’s stand that the succession of the 14th Dalai Lama needed the Chinese government’s approval.

“I hereby reiterate that the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognise the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter,” the Dalai Lama said. The Gaden Phodrang Trust is a non-profit organisation that the 14th Dalai Lama set up in 2015 to support the institution of the Dalai Lama.

The statement came ahead of a three-day Tibetan Buddhist Conference which will begin on Wednesday at Himachal Pradesh’s McLeodganj, just days before the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday on July 6.

In a statement released by his office on social media, the leader said that as far back as 1969, he had made it clear that the people concerned should decide whether the Dalai Lama’s reincarnations should continue in the future.

“I also said: When I am about 90, I will consult the high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism to re-evaluate whether or not the institutions of the Dalai Lama should continue,” he said.

The Dalai Lama stated that while he had held no public discussions on the matter, over the last 14 years, he received requests from different groups seeking the continuation of the institution of the Dalai Lama. “In accordance with all these requests, I am affirming that the institution of the Dalai Lama will continue,”

China rejected the Dalai Lama’s statement on Wednesday, saying that his reincarnation needed to be approved by the Chinese government, the BBC reported. Beijing said the succession must follow Chinese laws as well as “religious rituals and historical conventions”.

A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said that the Dalai Lama’s successor could be identified only through a system of drawing lots, in which names are drawn from a golden urn. Critics allege that China will misuse this method to exert pressure on the Tibetan community, according to the BBC.

The system of drawing lots, which began in 1792, was used to identify three reincarnations of the Dalai Lama. However, it was not used to select the current Dalai Lama.

The current Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 following an uprising against Chinese rule and took refuge in India with around 80,000 followers. He has since lived in Dharamsala, where he formed the Tibetan government-in-exile.

The Chinese government has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of “separatist” activities.

The Dalai Lama had previously said his successor would be born outside China, and had urged his followers to reject anyone that Beijing would choose, Reuters reported.