A bizarre dispute involving the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Communist Party has broken out at China's annual meeting of parliament.

Tibetan Buddhists believe the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death.

But the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has suggested he will not be reincarnated when he dies, prompting atheists of the Communist party to demand the tradition must continue.

The message was conveyed at a meeting on the sidelines of the China's National People's Congress in Beijing.

The head of Tibet's regional congress, Padma Choling, said that the Dalai Lama has to return, just as he has done for generations.

"Whether [the Dalai Lama] wants to cease reincarnation or not ... this decision is not up to him," Mr Padma said.

"When he became the 14th Dalai Lama, it was not his decision.

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"He was chosen following a strict system dictated by religious rules and historical tradition and also with the approval of the central government.

"Can he decide when to stop reincarnating? That is impossible. What he wants is to distort reality. It's impossible in my view. Tibetan Buddhism follows tradition. If he goes ahead with this there will be division."

This debate has nothing to do with Buddhism and everything to do with power.

Dilemma over dual Dalai Lamas

The Dalai Lama was chosen as the head of his religion as a boy. He fled his homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Since then, Beijing has viewed the Nobel peace laureate as a dangerous separatist.

The second most powerful figure in Tibetan Buddhism is the Panchen Lama.

In 1995, the Dalai Lama named a boy in Tibet as the reincarnation of the previous Panchen.

Chinese officials took the boy away and chose their own Panchen Lama, who many Tibetans regard as a fake.

The Dalai Lama has said his title could end when he dies, signalling to Tibetans that whoever the Chinese government chooses to replace him after his death will be a sham.

The Communist Party, seeing the problems that this might pose in the future, has gone on the attack.

"I think [the Dalai Lama] is actually profaning religion and Tibetan Buddhism," Mr Padma said.

"He says 'no reincarnation', so it's no reincarnation? The crux of this issue, where the problem really lies, is that he wants to try and take away the central government's rights on reincarnation."

It sounds a bit ghoulish, but the argument looks like panning out this way: on his death bed, the Dalai will be saying, "See you later: I'm never returning" and the Communist Party will be saying, "See you soon!"