GENEVA, April 10 (AFP) - Denmark, backed by the United States, was to file Thursday a resolution denouncing Chinese human rights abuses, despite sabre-rattling from Beijing and deep European divisions over the motion.

Denmark stepped in Saturday and announced it would put forward the motion before the UN Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva after the European Union failed to agree on a joint position on the annual human rights debate.

Diplomats said on Wednesday that Denmark would wait until the last minute before presenting the resolution at 1600 GMT on Thursday in order to muster maximum support.

The 53-members of the commission will vote on the text next Tuesday, but diplomats believed that, as on all previous occasions, the anti-China resolution would be defeated through skillful Chinese lobbying.

China has faced a similar resolution every year since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Meanwhile, China stepped up the pressure on Denmark in a last-gasp effort to prevent the Danish-sponsored resolution from being presented.

"This motion will be like Denmark lifting a rock only to drop it on its own head," foreign ministry spokesman Shen Guofang warned on Thursday.

"It will be a heavy loss for Denmark as the leader of the pack usually suffers the brunt of the attack," he added.

Denmark expects support from 11 EU members as well as the United States.

However, with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Greece all withdrew their support.

Diplomats said the resolution had little chance of being adopted.

They said no Asian country was expected to back the text after the defection of Japan, and African and South American countries are also expected to hold back.

All previous resolutions have been defeated as a result of intense lobbying by Beijing, which presents the debate as a clash between North and South.

The draft motion which could still be modified, acknowledges China's economic success, judicial progress and China's pledges to adhere to UN human rights conventions.

However, it also criticises violations of fundamental liberties, especially in Tibet and deplores the persecution and heavy penalties meted out on political and religious opponents to the Communist regime.

The text calls for respect of all human rights, impartial administration of justice, the release of political prisoners and the protection of Tibetans' cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious identity.

In Beijing, the Danish embassy confirmed that it and other EU member missions had been summoned by the Chinese foreign ministry for a dressing down over their support for the resolution.

"They explained their objections and we explained our position," Danish Ambassador Christopher Bo Bramsen said.

Arguing that Beijing had taken major steps in improving human rights over the past few decades, Shen accused western nations of turning a blind eye to China's progress.

"Some are also blind to human rights abuses in their own countries, and yet they still seek to impose their values on others," he said.

Highlighting the social and cultural differences between countries, Shen said the only way to resolve human rights disputes was through dialogue based on the principles of mutual respect and equality.

Australia which has co-sponsored the anti-China resolution for six years without success said it would be among the countries withholding support for Thursday's motion.

Defending Canberra's decision not to support the draft, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia was only interested in effective action on human rights.

"The only way we believe that in our human rights diplomacy with China we can be remotely effective is by establishing some kind of dialogue," Downer said, pointing to a Sino-Australian agreement to hold a formal bilateral dialogue on the issue.