The Dalai Lama moved one step closer to "retirement" on Wednesday when his self-declared "government-in-exile" picked a new "leader" – a Harvard graduate who has never been to Tibet.

Lobsang Sangay, 43, was named as the "exiled government's" new "Kalon Tripa (prime minister)." He now has to leave behind his research fellows in Harvard's East Asian Legal Studies program and move to the north Indian town of Dharamsala, where his new office is located.

Sangay was a leader of the Tibetan Youth Congress, a hard-line organization under the Dalai Lama clique that openly preaches violence in their search for "Tibetan independence." The group was the mastermind behind a violent riot on March 14, 2008, which resulted in the deaths of 18 civilians.

Xu Zhitao, an official at the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), told the Global Times that since the "exiled government" is not legitimate and is not recognized by any country in the world, Sangay's appointment is just another political show by the Dalai Lama.

"This kind of show happens almost every year without any political significance," Xu said. "The Dalai Lama and his clique lost political power ever since he went to India in 1959. He and his followers cannot represent Tibet."

Lian Xiangmin, a research fellow at the China Tibetology Research Center, told the Global Times that Sangay's influence in the clique is no match for that of the Dalai Lama, despite the latter declaring in March that he would resign from his political role.

"Sangay is young and active, but the Dalai Lama is still the mastermind of the group. In recent years, we have seen conflicts increasing among different stakeholders within the clique. With the Dalai Lama holding religious power, Sangay really doesn't have too many options to ease the discord," Lian said. "Any important decisions would still have to be discussed with the Dalai Lama," Barry Sautman, a Tibet expert at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told AFP.