Envoys of the Dalai Lama, Tibet`s exiled spiritual leader, said on Sunday that their most recent talks with China had failed, as the Tibet movement gathered in north India to assess its future.

BEIJING, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - The Dalai Lama's frequent high-profile foreign tours this year show China's enduring attempts to isolate the Tibetan spiritual leader and ruin his image have had little impact, observers said.

Defying harsh warnings from China, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday held a historic meeting with the Dalai Lama in Berlin, during which she gave support to his quest for greater cultural autonomy for his homeland.

BEIJING, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - China on Tuesday said that a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Dalai Lama had damaged ties between the two nations, and called for Berlin to quickly fix the problem.

'This not only grossly interferes with the internal affairs of China, it hurts the feelings of the Chinese people and seriously undermines China-Germany relations,' foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu said when asked about Sunday's meeting.

BERLIN, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Germany moved on Monday to control damage to its diplomatic ties with China a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel angered Beijing by holding an historic meeting with the Dalai Lama.

China, Germany's top trade partner in the Asia-Pacific region, has cancelled two top-level meetings in apparent retaliation for the chancellor's talks with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader on Sunday.

PARIS, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama offered his support to protesting Myanmar Buddhist monks Monday and urged the military government not to react with violence.

'I extend my support and solidarity with the recent peaceful movement for democracy in Burma,' he said in a message released by the Tibet office in Paris and datelined Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile in northern India.

BERLIN, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - China has cancelled a second top-level meeting with Germany, the German foreign ministry said on Monday, after Chancellor Angela Merkel angered Beijing by receiving the Dalai Lama.

Foreign ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had cancelled a breakfast meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in New York this week.

'It is traditional that the foreign minister meets his Chinese counterpart for a breakfast during the week in which the UN holds its General Assembly.

BERLIN, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Defying pressure from China, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held an historic meeting with the Dalai Lama on Sunday, and gave support to the Buddhist leader's quest for cultural autonomy for Tibet.

'The chancellor paid tribute to the Dalai Lama as a religious leader and assured him of support for his efforts to preserve the cultural identity of Tibet and for his peaceful quest for religious and cultural autonomy,' her spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said afterwards.

BERLIN, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel held an historic meeting with the Dalai Lama on Sunday, her office said, despite strong pressure from China not to receive the Buddhist leader.

A spokesman for the chancellery declined to give details of the almost hour-long conversation, which marks the first time that the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has been received by a German head of government.

'It was a private exchange of views,' he told AFP.

BERLIN, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a historic meeting with the Dalai Lama on Sunday despite strong protests from China, which has cancelled talks with German officials.

Merkel's spokesman said the pair had a 'private exchange of views' but no public statement was expected to come from the meeting.

BERLIN, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel was set to hold a historic meeting with the Dalai Lama on Sunday despite strong protest from China, which has cancelled talks with German officials.

The German justice ministry said Chinese officials have called off a meeting with German counterparts on patent right protection that was scheduled to take place in Munich on Sunday for 'technical reasons.'

BERLIN, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel was set to hold a historic meeting with the Dalai Lama on Sunday that has raised tensions with China and led Beijing to cancel at least one official event.

The Chinese foreign ministry called in Germany's ambassador to Beijing over the meeting, which will mark the first time Tibet's exiled spiritual leader is received at the chancellery, but Berlin has resisted pressure to withdraw Merkel's invitation.

BERLIN, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Germany firmly believes that Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama here on Sunday will not harm its ties with China, a government spokesman said on Friday.

'We absolutely believe that this private exchange of ideas will not disturb the good state of German-Chinese relations and cooperation,' deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters.

VIENNA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said Thursday that he had met the Dalai Lama, defying Chinese warnings against seeing the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader.

'One thing needs to be clear-- Vienna and Austria are places for dialogue,' the chancellor said on ORF public television, referring to the Chinese protests.

Gusenbauer did not specify where the encounter with the Dalai Lama took place. President Heinz Fischer decided against meeting the Tibetan leader.

OTTAWA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with the Dalai Lama next month in a move likely to peeve Beijing which views the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader as a separatist, the daily Globe and Mail said Tuesday.

A spokesman for Harper was not immediately available for comment, but the Canadian leader has previously taken a hard-line view of China, criticizing its human rights record and scorning alleged Chinese spying in this country.

BEIJING, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - China warned Germany on Tuesday against receiving Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, calling him a 'splittist' who aimed to damage the country's interests.

'The Dalai Lama is not simply a religious figure. Underneath the disguise of religion, he is a long-time political exile engaged in splittist activities,' foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular press conference.

BERLIN, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - China has summoned Germany's ambassador in Beijing to discuss Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to grant the Dalai Lama an unprecedented meeting this month, the German foreign ministry said Friday.

A spokesman confirmed a report due to appear in Monday's edition of the Handelsblatt business daily that ambassador Michael Schaefer has been called to a meeting with Chinese authorities.

BERLIN, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - The Dalai Lama has been granted an unprecedented private meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin this month, her government confirmed on Friday.

The meeting on September 23 will be the first time the Dalai Lama has been received at the German chancellery, a spokesman said.

Asked if the visit would offend China, which Merkel visited in August, chief government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said Beijing was aware of Berlin's position on Tibet.

BEIJING, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Chinese police have arrested hundreds of people in western China after residents there called for the return of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, reports said Friday.

Soldiers and police were dispatched to Lithang, an ethnically Tibetan part of Sichuan province, after locals gathered Wednesday to celebrate a traditional horse festival, said rights group International Campaign for Tibet and Radio Free Asia (RFA).