British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday he would meet exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, when he visits Britain in May, risking damage to Mr Brown's drive for closer relations with China.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has accused the Dalai Lama of masterminding protests against Chinese rule in Tibet that culminated in riots in which dozens may have died. The Dalai Lama denies the accusations.
"I will meet the Dalai Lama when he is in London," Mr Brown told Parliament. "I think it is important that we all facilitate discussions (about Tibet)."
Tibet activists and the opposition Conservatives welcomed Mr Brown's announcement that he would meet the Nobel peace laureate, who is due to visit Britain in late May.
"We are absolutely delighted that Gordon Brown has made this announcement," Anne Holmes, director of the Free Tibet Campaign, which campaigns for Tibetan self-determination, said.
She urged Mr Brown to meet the Dalai Lama at his official Downing Street residence, giving the meeting added weight.
But analysts said the move could have repercussions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to meet the Dalai Lama last year led to a four-month chill in relations between Germany and China, the world's fourth-biggest economy that has been growing at a double-digit pace for years and is seen as a crucial market by global businesses. "When Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government was really annoyed," Yiyi Lu, an expert in Chinese politics at London's Chatham House thinktank, said.
The timing of Mr Brown's announcement, so soon after the riots in Tibet and months before Beijing hosts the Olympic Games, was particularly sensitive, she said.
At times in the past, Chinese anger with Western governments has affected commercial deals, she said.
Mr Brown has launched a drive to improve relations with China, stressing on a visit in January that Britain was open to Chinese trade and investment and lobbying for China's new $200 billion sovereign wealth fund to open an office in London.
But he has also been under pressure from rights activists and legislators to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader. More than 100 lawmakers of all parties signed a parliamentary motion urging him to do so.
Mr Brown spoke to China's Mr Wen yesterday, making it "absolutely clear that there had to be an end to violence in Tibet" and calling for dialogue, he said.
Mr Brown said Mr Wen had told him he was prepared to hold talks with the Dalai Lama under certain conditions.
"The premier told me that, subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said - that he does not support the total independence of Tibet and that he renounces violence - that he would be prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama," he said.