In a CNN interview broadcast Sunday, the 73-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists also said his reincarnation would be found in the "free world" rather than in Chinese-occupied Tibet.

Chinese hardliners were guilty of "cultural genocide" in their assault on Tibet's way of life, he said.

Speaking in English, he said the vast majority of Tibetans were "very unhappy" as they saw their "cultural heritage passing through something like a death sentence."

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