The remarks by the official came after the 71-year-old exiled spiritual head told students in the United States that he would "retire completely" within a few years and was already "semi-retired."

"The political leadership will be transferred over a period of time but he will continue to be the spiritual leader because as the Dalai Lama, the issue of relinquishing the post does not arise," Chhime Rigzing, a senior spokesman for the Tibetan leader, said on Saturday.

"The temporal part (of his role) he wants to transfer," said Rigzing by telephone from the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, in the foothills of the Himalayas, that serves as the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

But "you can't transfer spiritual leadership in Buddhism, you can't change that," Rigzing told AFP.