the official xinhua news agency said the new rules are "an important move to institutionalise management of reincarnation of living buddhas". tulkus are indeed an important element in tibetan buddhism, forming a clergy of influential religious figures. it is believed they are continuously reincarnated to take up their positions anew. often there is more than one candidate competing to be recognised as the actual reincarnation, and the authority to decide who is the true claimant carries significant power.