The order by the late Chinese leader to allow the Dalai Lama to flee was an historic secret that could only now be revealed, more than 35 years later, the official China Youth Daily said.

Chinese soldiers had the Tibetan leader and his retinue in their gunsights when he crossed a river during his night escape from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, but did not open fire because they had no orders to stop him, the newspaper said.

Mao told communist cadres and soldiers in Tibet they were forbidden to stop the Dalai Lama or his followers, even if they tried to leave the country during the abortive uprising in March, 1959, it said.

Mao's decision was a tactical move to divide Tibet's traditional upper-class rulers and to identify those who would support Beijing, the newspaper said.

An official of the Tibetan government said by telephone from Lhasa he was unable to comment since the region's current leaders were all too young to know enough about the uprising.

The Dalai Lama and tens of thousands of Tibetans fled to India during and after the armed uprising that followed almost nine years of Chinese military occupation of Tibet and was crushed with heavy loss of life.

Since his hurried escape on horseback and on foot across some of the world's highest mountains, the Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India from where he has waged an international campaign for Tibetan political autonomy.

Beijing, which has worked to isolate the Dalai Lama diplomatically, has became embroiled in a dispute with him over the selection of a successor to the late Panchen Lama, Tibet's second-most senior religious and political leader.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner, is widely revered in Tibet, where Chinese control has been repeatedly challenged by demonstrations aimed at restoring independence.