What authority did the 14th Dalai Lama give the Gaden Phodrang Trust in choosing his successor?

The 14th Dalai Lama has granted the Gaden Phodrang Trust—an entity he established within his offices in India in 2011—the sole and final authority to identify and recognize his successor, the 15th Dalai Lama.123

By designating this trust as the responsible body, the 14th Dalai Lama explicitly rejected the authority of the Chinese government and its mandated use of the golden urn for the selection process. He has stated that the trust will identify his reincarnation through consultations with dharmapalas (protector deities) and other authoritative lamas from various schools of Tibetan Buddhism. This decision serves to maintain the independence of the succession process from political interference, ensuring that the identification remains a matter of religious tradition rather than state oversight.123