The Dalai Lama issued an impassioned plea for dialogue with China to mark Wednesday's 40th anniversary of the anti-Chinese uprising which forced him to flee to India.

Asked to comment on the Dalai Lama's plea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said China had never slammed the door on Tibet's spiritual leader.

"The channel for contact between the central government and the Dalai Lama has always been unblocked," Zhu told reporters.

The Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner, told Reuters in an interview last month that even informal communication with China over Tibet's future had come to a complete halt.

Zhu demanded the Dalai Lama abandon his advocacy of Tibetan independence and make a public statement recognising Tibet is an inseparable part of China.

The Dalai Lama has repeatedly stressed he is not seeking independence for Tibet.

He has said he favours a "middle way approach" of negotiations for autonomy under Chinese rule which could preserve and promote the Tibetan people's cultural, religious and linguistic integrity, as well as economic development.

"A just and fair solution to the issue of Tibet will enable me to give full assurance that I will use my moral authority to persuade the Tibetans not to seek separation," the Dalai Lama said in a statement on Wednesday from Dharamshala, the northern Indian hill station where he and thousands of Buddhist followers have lived since fleeing four decades ago.

Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950.

The Dalai Lama said he had communicated his desire for consultation to Chinese President Jiang Zemin last year, but there had been no positive response.

Zhu said the Dalai Lama must also recognise Taiwan as a province of China and that the People's Republic of China government is the sole, legitimate government representing all Chinese.

China was opposed to Taiwan authorities and the Dalai Lama "conniving to split the motherland," the spokesman said.

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province and has threatened to invade the island if it declares independence.

On the eve of the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising, China's state media lashed out at the Dalai Lama, describing him as a "splittist" and "loyal tool" of anti-China forces, insisting he was afraid to negotiate.

The Dalai Lama said the atmosphere of "deep distrust" between Tibetans and Chinese must be overcome.

"This distrust will not go away in a day. It will dissipate only through face-to-face meetings and sincere dialogues.

"Late last autumn, without any obvious reason, there was a noticeable hardening of the Chinese position on dialogue and their attitude towards me," he said. "This abrupt change was accompanied by a new round of intensified repression in Tibet."

"I feel that the Chinese leadership is sometimes hindered by its own suspicions so that it is unable to appreciate sincere initiatives from my side, either on the overall solution to the Tibetan problem or any other problem."

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Last updated: 11-Mar-99