BEIJING, December 12, 1996 (Reuter) - China said Thursday it had never put pressure on the Walt Disney Co. for backing a film about the life of Tibet's exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing accuses of fomenting unrest in the region.

``The Chinese government...has never put pressure in any way on the Disney Co.,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang told a news briefing when asked to comment about a Western film industry letter criticizing alleged attempts by Beijing to impose worldwide censorship on China-related films.

``We only hope the Disney group will be able to better cooperate with China in relevant areas,'' Shen said. He did not elaborate.

The Burbank, Calif.-based entertainment giant is eager to expand into Asia, particularly China, where demand for U.S. products is high.

It remained to be seen if Disney's involvement in the film `Kundun'' would hurt its ambitious business expansion plans in China.

China said last month that Disney would be wrong to make a film singing the praises of the Dalai Lama.

Disney has said it would go ahead with the U.S. release of ``Kundun'' despite China's objections.

A group of 41 movie actors, actresses, producers and directors, including Paul Newman and Bernardo Bertolucci, Wednesday wrote to China's ambassador to the United States protesting what they said was Beijing's ``attempt to impose worldwide censorship'' on films in or about China.

The letter said China's warning to Disney was the latest incident in a persistent effort by the Beijing government to censor the film industry.

They included a list of 12 occasions which they believed the Chinese government had interfered with productions.

The Dalai Lama fled his Himalayan homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule and won the Nobel Peace Prize 30 years later for his non-violent campaign for autonomy for Tibet.