BEIJING, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- China slammed Thursday plans by the Walt Disney Co. to release a film next year about the dalai lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader regarded by Beijing as one of its most dangerous enemies.

"Any action that distorts Tibet's history and sings the praises of the dalai lama is contrary to the facts and cannot enjoy popular support," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cui Tiankai said during a news conference.

Beijing has threatened to sever all commercial ties with the U.S. entertainment giant over its plans to distribute the film "Kundun," by Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese.

Its sympathetic view of the Tibetan independence movement has outraged Beijing, which has consistently worked to discredit the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

A spokesman for the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala said the Chinese leadership's opposition is providing advanced publicity for the movie.

"The world's people by and large recognize the dalai lama and Tibet and there is incredible interest in the Tibetan people, Tibetan culture and what's happening in Tibet," Tempa Tsering said.

"Unless Disney felt (the film) would be commercially successful, they would not have taken on such a project. The Chinese protests will make the film more popular," Tsering predicted.

The movie, which is being filmed on location in Morocco on a $50 million budget, is based on the dalai lama's autobiography. It chronicles his life from the time he was recognized supreme Tibetan Buddhist leader at the age of 2 ¼ until he fled to northern India in 1959 after an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule.

Due to be released some time next year, the movie takes its title from a Tibetan word meaning "spiritual presence."

A cast of about 100 Tibetans living in northern India and other countries also has been hired as actors and extras in the film, which Tsering said would be a factual portrayal of his people and the oppressive conditions in which they lived.

"It's the Chinese who want to obstruct the rights of artists to produce films about Tibet," Tsering said.

Beijing objects to the movie, which it predicted would be "anti- China," on the grounds that it will give a one-sided account of events.

"Tibet has always been the territory of China," Cui insisted, describing the region as a "feudal serf society" before the dalai lama left.

Beijing has made it clear to Disney, which hopes to open theme parks in China, that it wants production stopped on the movie.

But Disney officials have said their company had "no connections" with the production of the controversial film, which it purchased from U.S. entertainment company MCA last year as a part of a package of projects.

All nations recognize Tibet as part of China, which has been accused of widespread abuses since its troops entered the region in 1950.