NEW DELHI, India (Reuter) -- Tibetan exiles who fled their homeland 38 years ago say they fear China will train its sights on other parts of Southeast Asia after regaining control of HongKong.

The Hong Kong handover has stirred bitter memories for many Tibetans who accuse Beijing of stealing its independence and reneging on promises.

"China continues to hold on to Tibet like any colonial appendage," the bureau of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said in a15-page statement issued over the weekend.

The Dalai Lama fled his mountainous homeland to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule. Currently more than 100,000 Tibetans live in exile in India.

Called "His Holiness" by followers, the Dalai Lama began an annual retreat in his northern Indian home of Dharamsala on June 22 that will not end until July 10.

Because of the retreat, he will make no public statement before the handover, Jampal Chosang, secretary of the Dalai Lama's bureau, or diplomatic mission, in New Delhi said on Sunday.

But the Dalai Lama, who turns 62 next Sunday, approved the weekend denunciation of China that warned Hong Kong not to trust Beijing.

"In Hong Kong, human rights and democracy will be the first casualty of reunification with China,"the statement said.

It said China's rulers could not be trusted to keep their promises to ensure a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong under an arrangement called "one country, two systems."

It said, "One can't help wondering if China can betrusted to adhere to any agreement which does notserve its purpose," and accused Beijing of violating a 1951 accord which it said promised the same one-country, two-systems formula for Tibet.

Tibetan exiles are worried that Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese sovereignty will add legitimacy to Beijing's rule in Tibet, and so they are quick to note differences.

"Tibet and Hong Kong are two fundamentally different issues," the Dalai Lama's bureau said."Tibet was an independent sovereign nation which only became a part of China by virtue of force of arms and by blatant military invasion."

Hong Kong, on the other hand, was legally part of China when it was ceded to imperial Britain.

But Chosang played down any potential consequences for Tibet. "We don't see it as unfortunate forTibet especially. We see it as negative for Southeast Asia," he said.

"After the July 1 domination of Hong Kong, the next stop will be Macau, then Taiwan. Certainly the Hong Kong turnover will be negative for those looking for freedom of expression and pluralism in Southeast Asia," Chosang said.

But if their prediction proves wrong and China tolerates dissent, the exiled Tibetans will see that as a hopeful sign for their own autonomy movement.

"They may respect the joint declaration on HongKong. If so, we would have better scope to resolve our issues with China," Chosang said.