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After decades of channeling funds to the Dalai Lama, a moment of a buyer's remorse for the US? Cartoon: Carlos Latuff

The US and India conveyed their greetings to the Dalai Lama on his birthday on Saturday. Chinese experts said their attempt to contain China by once again playing the so-called Dalai card is like a "self-consoling elegy," which is doomed to be futile.

According to the website of the US Department of State, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US extends best wishes to the Dalai Lama on the occasion of his 89th birthday, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also sent greetings to the Dalai Lama in a post on X (previously Twitter). Modi has been sending greetings on Dalai Lama's birthday for the past several years, according to media reports.

When asked whether the actions of the US and India may imply an intention to contain China by playing the so-called Dalai card, Zhu Weiqun, former head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, affirmed such intention. 

However, Zhu said such attempts are increasingly ineffective as the influence of the Dalai clique has been declining, which is an inevitable historical trend. "The attempts of the US and India are a self-consoling elegy," Zhu told the Global Times on Sunday.

The unity and economic development of China's Xizang Autonomous Region are there for all to see, and the living standards of local Tibetan people are improving, which are the facts that the Dalai clique and some Western countries cannot change, Zhu said, noting that their attempts to play "the Dalai card" are futile.

Analysts also refuted Western media's hype about Dalai Lama's successor, as Reuters posted an article on Saturday titled "As the Dalai Lama turns 89, exiled Tibetans fear a future without him."

"The initiative of finding the successor of Dalai Lama is firmly held by the Chinese central government," Zhu said, emphasizing that the finding work will definitely be in accordance with relevant policies and the sincere wishes of religious believers in Xizang, and will never be based on the fantasies of the separatist Dalai clique.

Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said at a routine press conference on June 18 that it's known by all that the 14th Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure, but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion. Lin's remarks came after the separatist Dalai clique has intensified its collusion with American politicians as a group of US lawmakers visited Dharamsala.

Lin said China urged the US side to fully recognize the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honor the commitments the US has made to China on issues related to Xizang, have no contact with the Dalai group in any form, and stop sending the wrong signal to the world. "China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests," the spokesperson said.