Published by: World Tibet Network News Friday, December 19, 1997

BEIJING, Dec 19 (Reuters) - China on Friday said it would help officials involved in a European Union aid project in Tibet after the plan was suspended over Chinese refusal to grant a British aid worker a visa to visit the region.

"As long as an agreement can be reached, we will, in accordance with regulations, give all expedience to European Union officials and related experts carrying out project activities," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The European Commission said on Thursday it would hold off on signing an $8.4 million aid project in Tibet because authorities there refused to renew the visa of an education adviser with a non-governmental organisation.

"The European Union's aid project to China's Tibet has not yet started, and the two sides have not yet signed a financial agreement," the Chinese statement said.

The statement did not directly mention the visa status of a British education adviser with Save the Children Fund UK who had worked in Tibet for three years and was barred from returning there after she went on holiday last July.

British newspaper reports said Chinese authorities had refused to renew her visa.

On Thursday, a spokesman for European Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan said the EU suspended the project because the involvement of non-governmental organisations was considered vital.

The EU would not sign an agreement to fund the 7.6 million ecus ($8.4 million) project pending an investigation into the situation, Brittan's spokesman said.

He said it appeared the visa was denied because of bureaucratic problems in Tibet rather than an instruction from Beijing.

The Panam Integrated Rural Development Project is to run irrigation, agriculture, education and health schemes for an area 125 miles (200 km) southwest of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.