UK wants China to open talks with Dalai Lama

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair told Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Thursday Beijing should open a dialogue with the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.

In 45 minutes of formal talks with Jiang, the first Chinese head of state to visit Britain, Blair's spokesman said about 10 were devoted to human rights with Jiang raising the issue first.

The spokesman said Jiang welcomed "a new chapter in relations" since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, adding that human rights could be addressed and confronted.

"(Blair) welcomed the frank way the president raised the issue of human rights," the spokesman said. "They are well aware of our position on Tibet. We do recognise their sovereignty over it."

Britain wishes to see the Himalayan region have control over its internal affairs, he said, and thinks China should open talks with its exiled leader.

Tibet has been occupied by Chinese troops since 1950. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, fled in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule.

The Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his peaceful struggle for more Tibetan autonomy, but is vilified by Beijing as a traitor who foments violence and rebellion.

As the British government has stressed would happen all week, the two leaders devoted much of their discussion, to trade -- including China's application to join the World Trade Organisation which Britain supports -- China's growing economy and its place on the world stage.

NO APOLOGIES

"The prime minister feels very strongly that China is a hugely important country," his spokesman said. "Nor do we make any apologies whatsoever that we have boosted Anglo-Chinese investment.

"(Human rights) did not define the meeting," he said. "We do believe there is a new chapter in our relations with China."

British Foreign Office figures underline what is at stake, with around a billion pounds ($1.7 billion) of exports to China and 2.9 billion pounds in Chinese imports each year.

Britain is already Europe's biggest investor in China and the sixth largest investor overall, with total investments of 13 billion pounds at the end of last year.

Jiang assured British business leaders on Wednesday of China's economic health, as the two countries announced $3.5 billion worth of trade and investment deals. The spokesman said he would not be surprised to see more deals in the near future.

On Hong Kong, the two agreed that the "one country, two systems" formula was working.

Protesters have accused Blair's Labour government, which extols its ethical foreign policy, of ordering heavy-handed policing to stifle demonstrations during Jiang's visit.

AVOIDS PROTESTERS

London protests were not mentioned at the talks or over lunch. Jiang's car whisked through the Foreign Office gates to reach Blair's Downing Street residence without meeting activists.

The spokesman said Kosovo was mentioned in passing and Blair apologised again for NATO's bombing of China's Belgrade embassy.

Jiang also raised the case of the Falun Gong mystical set. Thousands of its followers have been jailed in China this year.

Blair's spokesman said Jiang stressed China offered freedom of religion as long as it kept within the law.

"We were quite surprised he took it up in the way he did," the spokesman said.

Pressure group Amnesty International said Blair's office had refused to accept a letter on human rights it drew up with Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng and the Free Tibet campaign.

It called on Blair to have "substantive, frank discussions" with Jiang on human rights and Tibet and make a public statement about the contents of the discussions.

"The prime minister's office refused to collect our letter," said Amnesty's Richard Bunting.

"This is exactly what we have feared: that any dicussion of human rights would be confined to hushed dialogue behind closed doors."