The 14th Dalai Lama has celebrated his 90th birthday and marked the occasion with a long-awaited announcement about the future of the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual tradition. On Wednesday, His Holiness announced via video message that the institution of the Dalai Lama would continue after his death.

The Dalai Lama has announced that he will have a successor after his death, continuing a centuries-old tradition that has become a flashpoint in the struggle with China’s Communist Party over Tibet’s future.

The Dalai Lama said Wednesday there will be a successor after his death. But China insists that it alone has the authority to approve the next religious leader.