October 21, 1999
Web posted at: 8:57 p.m. EDT (0057 GMT)

LONDON (CNN) -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin will leave Britain on Friday with a message from British Prime Minister Tony Blair to open dialogue with exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.

The urging came during a 45-minute meeting between the two leaders on Thursday which also touched on the sensitive issues of human rights and China's controversial push for entry to the World Trade Organization.

Blair's spokesman said about 10 minutes were devoted to human rights with Jiang raising the issue first.

The spokesman said Jiang welcomed "a new chapter in relations" since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, adding that human rights could be addressed and confronted.

"(Blair) welcomed the frank way the president raised the issue of human rights," the spokesman said. "They are well aware of our position on Tibet. We do recognize their sovereignty over it."

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Britain wishes to see the Himalayan region have control over its internal affairs, he said, and thinks China should open talks with its exiled leader.

Tibet has been occupied by Chinese troops since 1950. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, fled in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule.

Jiang's visit to Britain was the first by a Chinese head of state.

As the British government has stressed would happen all week, the two leaders devoted much of their discussion, to trade -- including China's application to join the World Trade Organization which Britain supports -- China's growing economy and its place on the world stage.

"The prime minister feels very strongly that China is a hugely important country," his spokesman said. "Nor do we make any apologies whatsoever that we have boosted Anglo- Chinese investment.

"(Human rights) did not define the meeting," he said. "We do believe there is a new chapter in our relations with China."

British Foreign Office figures underline what is at stake, with about $1.7 billion of exports to China each year.

Jiang's aides dismissed protests in London as "small noises"

Jiang assured British business leaders on Wednesday of China's economic health, as the two countries announced $3.5 billion worth of trade and investment deals.

On Hong Kong, the two agreed that the "one country, two systems" formula was working.

Protesters have accused Blair's government, which extols its ethical foreign policy, of ordering heavy-handed policing to stifle demonstrations during Jiang's visit.

Aides to Jiang dismissed human rights protesters who dogged the Chinese leader Thursday as he met with Blair and opened a museum exhibit of Chinese treasures with Queen Elizabeth II.

Demonstrators, who disagree with China's policy on Tibet and human rights in China, gathered early outside the prime minister's residence, No. 10 Downing Street, where Jiang met with Blair.

But the Chinese president avoided the crowd by using a side entrance. His aides later denounced the protests as "small noises."

"These people creating troubles ... the majority of those were not Tibetan or Chinese, they had characteristic high noses," Zhu Bangzhao, the delegation's spokesman, told a news conference, referring to the demonstrators' Caucasian features.

He said the protesters were the inheritors of the "inglorious cause of imperialism and colonialism."

"We would hope that those people would be able to have more knowledge about the real situation in Tibet," he said.

The protesters came much closer to Jiang later in the day at London's British Museum, where the Queen and the president officially opened an exhibit of gold and silver treasures from the Sha'anxi province near the ancient capital city of Chang'an (present-day Xi'an).

Protesters outside the museum hurled eggs at Jiang as he arrived, some falling just six meters (20 feet) short of the president.

Jiang did not acknowledge the protest, which has followed him throughout his London visit, although kept at a safe distance by British police.

On at least two occasions, protesters have breached police lines and approached President Jiang's motorcade -- both times they were arrested.

Jiang, who was scheduled to leave for Paris on Friday, will visit five other European cities in the next two weeks.

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