Weeks before the Dalai Lama ruled out China's role in choosing his successor, President Xi Jinping met a Tibetan Buddhist monk installed three decades ago by Beijing as the faith's No. 2 leader, the Panchen Lama.

Beijing has spoken loud and clear: the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama will be in China, and approved by the Chinese Communist Party. Tibet, however, has been silent. "That's just the way it is," the monk told us. "That's the reality."

Hollywood star Richard Gere threw his weight behind the Dalai Lama’s bold succession plan on Thursday, urging China to take heed as he declared the Tibetan struggle a cause for all humanity. “This extraordinary culture of Tibet doesn’t just belong to Tibet anymore.