The Dalai Lama is planning his succession as the ultimate protest against China

Days before he turned 90 last week the Dalai Lama hurled a rhetorical hand grenade at the Chinese Communist Party. Having devoted almost the entirety of his life striving to preserve the imperiled culture and identity of Tibet — invaded and annexed by China in 1950 — the world's most famous Buddhist monk finally confirmed that his successor will be chosen by a conclave comprising his most trusted followers. The search for the next Dalai Lama will not fully break from tradition, a process in which high-ranking lamas rely on dreams, divinations and whispers of oracles to locate the "reincarnation"…