By Tenzin Monlam

DHARAMSHALA, December 19: After blocking the recently launched official mobile application of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Apple Appstore, China has labeled it as a ‘desperate move’ to cover the ‘China splitting political ambition with religious color’.

“Apparently, the Dalai Lama's influence has been drastically declining in recent years, as major powers in the West have increasingly realized that supporting him has become a negative asset when trying to improve relations with China,” Zhu Weiqun, Director, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee, told the Global Times, a state-run news daily.

“He is desperate as his influence dims, and has turned to the Internet,” Zhu said adding that Dalai’s clique will not give up their malicious political intent to illegally separate Tibetan region from China.

However, the new App is only an extension of the already existing website, ‘Dalailama.com’ made easier for accessing the content through mobile phones. The official website states, “Stay up to date with what His Holiness is doing, his travels, and his teachings. Get official news, videos, and photos from His Holiness’s Office, including live video streams when they are available.”

Similar to Dalailama.com, China has banned the App in occupied Tibet and China as well and is unavailable in Appstore China.

The App is compatible with iOS 10.0 or later on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The Android version is expected to be launched soon. As of now over 15,000 downloads have been done with a rating of 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store.