The clash is a long time in the making with the Dalai Lama insisting the Chinese government will have absolutely no say in the selection.

The Dalai Lama just turned 90-years-old, and questions about his successor are still unanswered. NBC News' Janis Mackey Frayer explains how China is weighing in on the process.

Just before the Dalai Lama turned 90, he announced that his successor would be selected through the traditional process of reincarnation. The New York Times’s South Asia bureau chief, explains why this process could increase tensions with China.