BEIJING. Jan 15 (AP) -- Al Gore should not go to China until that nation releases "arbitrarily detained prisoners," increases access to Tibet for foreigners and allows humanitarian groups into prisons and political trials, a rights group says.

Human Rights Watch/Asia urged the Clinton administration on Tuesday to use the vice president's visit as leverage against China and proof that Washington will not sacrifice human rights to trade or security issues.

The New York-based group also urged the U.S. government to show its commitment to human rights by lobbying to censure China at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva on March 10.

The letter listed human rights abuses in China over the past five months: beatings and jailings of the few democracy campaigners not already in prison, a campaign to intimidate Tibet's Buddhist clergy and an anti-crime crusade that has featured sweeping arrests and speedy executions.

"If (the trip) goes ahead, the Clinton administration will be sending a message that no matter what the Chinese government does to its own citizens, the U.S. will turn a blind eye," the rights group said. "The Chinese government will conclude that if it protests loudly enough, as it has on human rights, it can force any country to make concessions."

Such an approach is "dangerous, shortsighted and ultimately self-defeating," the group said.

Human Rights Watch noted that when Secretary of State Warren Christopher asked Chinese leaders to improve human rights during a Beijing visit in November, they replied with more arrests and sentencings.

Washington and Beijing have agreed Gore should visit China in the first half of the year, as a lead-in to a summit between the countries' presidents.