"The Australian" - Thursday, September 12

By New Zealand correspondent Pattrick Smellie, Dong Greenlees and Richard McGregor

The New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr Bolger, met the Dalai Lama yesterday amid doubts that his Australian counterpart, Mr Howard, will do the same shen the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader visits Australia later this week.

Pressure from China to avoid high-level contacts which give the Dalai Lama political legitimacy saw Mr Bolger walk a delicate diplomatic tightrope, receiving the spiritual leader as no more than an unofficial visitor and declining comment on their meeting which lasted 30 minutes.

The meeting was the second between Mr Bolger and the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile from his native Tibet since 1959, when he escaped after the country was annexed by China.

The Foreign Minister, Mr McKinnon, also met the Dalai Lama, and indicated that the New Zealand Government would not be bullied by the Chinese Government's demands that no such meetings occur.

"We can only see what the Chinese reaction is, but it's not my worry," Mr McKinnon said.

The Chinese embassy in Wellington issued a tersely worded statement claiming that Tibet had been an inalienable part of China since the 13th century.

"We deeply regret that the New Zealand Government ignores the Chinese Government's solemn presentations and allows the Dalai Lama to visit New Zealand and provides him with platforms for conducting political propaganda," the statement said.

The Dalai Lama is due to meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Downer, when he starts a two-week visit in Melbourne on Saturday. His representatives in Australia have also requested a meeting with Mr Howard.

Mr Howard's office has maintained he would be happy to see the Dalai Lama if the schedule allowed. The Prime Minister will be overseas next week when the Dalai Lama is due in Canberra.

This had led to some speculation that Mr Howard will use his absence to avoid a meeting. The Dalai Lama will, however, be in Mr Howard's home base, Sydney, between September 19 and 29.

Some Australian officials are concerned about any meeting at a delicate time in relations with Beijing. China has repeatedly complained about the Dalai Lama's activities in support of Tibetan independence and warned of an "unpleasant episode" in the bilateral relationship if the visit were acoorded a high status.

The London-based lobby group the Tibet Information Network claimed yesterday Chinese authorities had launched a "patriotic" campaign in monasteries throught the vast region, demanding that monks swear allegiance to China and denounce the Dalai Lama.

"It's possible that behind this campaign is an attempt by the Chinese to push all the remaining monks who are loyal to the Dalai Lama to flee to India," the network's spokesman, Mr Robbie Barnett, told "The Australian".

"That will mean there are fewer activists left to lead the independence movement within Tibet, and more and more refugees for the already overstretched exiles to accommodate in India."

A spokeswoman for the Australia Tibet Council said yesterday that the group expected Mr Howard to see the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet to exile in India after an aborted uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, will conduct Buddhist initiation ceremonies in Australia and also deliver a number of speeches.

Photo caption: It fits ... the Dalai Lama expresses delight at Mr Bolger's acceptance of a silk scarf presented by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in Wellington yesterday.