BONN, Germany (Reuter) - Opposition politicians accused the German government Thursday of caving in to pressure from Beijing by withdrawing public financial support for a conference on Tibet that has angered China.

But they failed to push through a parliamentary resolution calling on Chancellor Helmut Kohl's coalition to restore funding for this week's private seminar, to be attended by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

"We cannot allow China to decide which events held on German territory the government will support and which it will not," Gerd Poppe, a deputy for the environmentalist Greens, told a debate in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

He accused Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel of crumbling under Chinese pressure to distance Bonn from the symposium sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, closely allied to Kinkel's liberal Free Democrats (FDP).

"This was a kowtow, and not the first, by the foreign minister before a dictatorial regime," Poppe declared, adding: "We cannot stand by and see the culture of another people destroyed."

Bundestag Vice President Antje Vollmer, also a Green, called on Kinkel to cancel a planned trip to China in July after Beijing withdrew an invitation for a parliamentary human rights delegation to visit Tibet.

But Kinkel vowed to proceed with his trip.

After China's complaints, the German government withdrew a pledge of $190,000 for the Bonn seminar, saying it could not back a conference event billed as including members of Tibet's government-in-exile.

Bonn does not recognize the term because it considers Tibet to be a part of China, which has ruled the region since the People's Liberation Army entered in 1950.

In Frankfurt, the Dalai Lama sought to play down the flap, telling reporters he did not want to cause Germany any embarrassment on his account.

"I think Germany is sympathetic toward Tibet and toward me," he said.

The Communist government in Beijing was so upset by the conference that it has closed down the foundation's operations in China.

Foundation Chairman Otto Lambsdorff, who is also honorary chairman of the Free Democrats, Kohl's junior coalition partners, said he understood the government's decision but that the event would go ahead as planned in any event.

"We will not yield to pressure," he told German radio.

Some 260 participants from 53 countries are expected at the conference from Friday through Monday. The foundation has appealed for private contributions to help finance the event.