Australia backs Dalai Lama visit

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Australia has brushed off criticism from China over a visit by the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Beijing should respect Australia's democratic system.

He said the Dalai Lama would always be welcome in Australia, where he was regarded as a religious figure and not a politician.

On Tuesday, China warned Australia that the visit could damage relations between the two countries.

China is Australia's biggest trading partner, and Prime Minister John Howard has been keen to stress that his government acknowledges Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.

But China believes that its strong views on this very sensitive issue have been ignored by the Australians.

A spokesman in Beijing said the Dalai Lama was not simply a religious figurehead, but a political exile who was engaging in separatism and the sabotage of Chinese unity.

Controversial meetings

China is likely to feel even more aggrieved later this week when Mr Howard is scheduled to meet the 71-year-old monk.

The Dalai Lama has already held discussions with a group of parliamentarians in Canberra and the leader of the federal opposition, Kevin Rudd.

The spiritual leader has been urging countries like Australia to use its economic muscle to pressure Beijing on human rights.

Thousands of Australians have attended events and rallies during his tour.

A large crowd gathered to hear him talk about the environment at a zoo in Queensland, which is run by the widow of the crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin, who died last year and had strong ties to a local Buddhist monastery.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, went into exile in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule in Tibet.