July 17, 1996 - From Correspondent Margaret Lowrie

LONDON (CNN) -- Britain Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind told the Dalai Lama Wednesday that Britain and its European Union partners will continue to challenge China on human rights in [6]Tibet.

Rifkind said Britain shares the exiled Tibetan leader's concern about the threat to Tibet's cultural identity, according to an unnamed Foreign Office spokesman.

The weeklong visit to Britain by the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet 37 years ago after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, has angered Beijing and chilled British-Chinese relations.

China regards the Dalai Lama, who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1989, as an instigator of independence for Tibet with Britain as one of his main backers.

Rifkind said Britain hopes that talks without preconditions between Chinese authorities and Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, can begin without delay.

LEADERS

The Dalai Lama is in Britain on a goodwill mission to seek support. So far this week, he's talked to journalists, lawmakers in Parliament and members of the public. He also plans to meet privately with the Queen.

The 61-year-old spiritual and political leader of Tibet, who is revered by millions of Buddhists as "the God King," wants Britain to press for talks with China about autonomy for Tibet.

"We need political solution, that the best way is genuine self rule. That I feel (is) mutually agreeable solution," the Dalai Lama said. "Now, today, I want to issue an appeal to you, please help us ... the Peoples Republic of China ... to bring to the negotiation table."

TIBET HAS OTHER BACKERS

China invaded Tibet in 1950 and has occupied it ever since. The Dalai Lama, who escaped into exile in India in 1959, called it a "cultural genocide."

"In a sense, the Dalai Lama represents a serious challenge to the ability of the government in Beijing to rule effectively," said Gerald Segal with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"It's clear that the vast majority of the Tibetan population resists Chinese rule and, therefore, the Dalai Lama is the symbol of the struggle of people for independence."

The Chinese warn that the Dalai Lama's visit has "an adverse effect" on Chinese-British relations. But those "relations" were already complicated by the sensitive issue of Hong Kong, which Britain hands back next year.

"So much of the negotiations over Hong Kong has been more or less a question of Britain rolling over and accepting Chinese terms," Segal said. "There has to be a way in which it can be said to the Chinese 'we will resist, we have different views, we have different policies.' And to some extent, the policy towards the Dalai Lama is one of the better ways to convey that symbol."

Observers say whatever the political fallout, Britain does not stand alone. During the Dalai Lama's recent visit to Germany, it, too, condemned China's human rights record in Tibet.