China has warned the Dalai Lama to stop sabotaging the Olympics, sparking an angry reaction from Tibetan leaders who say more than 200 people have died in the Chinese crackdown on unrest.

China told the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader that, for planned new talks between the two sides to succeed, he must end the protests in his homeland that erupted last month and shone the Olympic spotlight on China's rule of Tibet.

But with just over 100 days to go to the Beijing Olympics, the Tibet crisis and a host of other controversies continued to frustrate the nation's communist rulers.

The Tibetan government-in-exile responded to the latest comments from Beijing by insisting repressive Chinese policies in Tibet were the root cause of the unrest. And later Tuesday a representative of the Dalai Lama said the spiritual leader was yet to receive an invite from China for talks.

Two-hundred died

The government-in-exile's spokesman, Thubten Samphel, also says the number of people believed to have died in the Chinese crackdown on the unrest had risen by around 50 to 203.

Meanwhile, China faced a growing diplomatic row with South Korea over protests during the Olympic torch's journey through Seoul over the weekend.

And the torch -- dogged by pro-Tibetan protesters and critics of other Chinese policies -- faced more controversy in Vietnam.

Activists there reported scores of people were detained on Tuesday to stop anti-Chinese rallies during the Ho Chi Minh leg.

China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending troops in to "liberate" the devoutly Buddhist region, and the Dalai Lama has accused Beijing of widespread repression during that time.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu says the Dalai Lama should "cherish" China's offer to reopen talks, as she restated her government's many conditions for dialogue.

"(He should) take concrete measures to stop his criminal acts of violence, stop his sabotage of the Beijing Olympics and his separatist activities, so as to create conditions for the next step of talks," she says.

'No invite as yet'

However, Dalai Lama representative Jampal Chosang says he had not received an invite for talks.

"China announced, via its official press agency, that Beijing wished to hold dialogue with a representative of the Dalai Lama," he says.

"That announcement was made on Friday.... To-date, we have not received a letter of invitation from China.

"Until we receive an invitation, our representative cannot reply," he adds.

Mr Chosang was speaking after addressing the foreign affairs commission at the French parliament on unrest in Tibet.

China insists the Dalai Lama has fomented the latest unrest and wants independence for his homeland.

But the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner says he wants autonomy for Tibet rather than independence, and denies orchestrating the protests.

The talks would be the first known encounter between the two sides for a year, and China's offer to reopen dialogue, initially made on Friday, was widely seen as a response to global pressure ahead of the Olympics.

However, Mr Jiang insisted China had not caved in.

"On the issues of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Chinese government and its people will never yield to any external pressure. We have the confidence and the capability to do well in our job," she says.
Source: AFP