Tokyo – Japanese Buddhist Conference for the World Federation issued a statement saying that the Tibetan people should decide the successor to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on the basis of Tibetan culture and history, not China. it said: 'We, the monks of Japan, believe that Tibetan people must decide upon the next successor based on their Tibetan Buddhist culture and history. China (PRC) is communist and based on non-religious principles. It is contradictory to let people who do not believe in religion decide who is the religious leader of the country.'