Paris - The Dalai Lama warned Wednesday against isolating China and said instead Beijing should be nudged by dialogue to accept democracy and freedom. China was the world's most populous country and wanted to be part of the international community, the Tibetan spiritual leader told journalists during a 12-day private visit in which he also indicated he would step further back from politics.
Beijing was denying the problems of Tibet and kept its own people uninformed. China was in "fear" of tackling the issue of Tibet, he said: "This is a sign of weakness."
Beijing should become more democratic and allow freedom, the Nobel peace laureate said at a news conference ahead of meeting French lawmakers.
However, he stressed the international community also had a duty to bring China to accept the value of human rights and democracy.
The world "must not isolate China," he said, but added he agreed with US President George W Bush that one had to be firm with Beijing.
The Dalai Lama emphasized that his visit to France was spiritual.
His meeting with members of parliament had been declared a private one at the request of the senate leader; the talks were not allowed to take place in official rooms and journalists and photographers were not admitted.
The unofficial nature of the visit has prompted widespread criticism in France, especially as neither French President Nicolas Sarkozy nor other government representatives planned to meet the Dalai Lama.
Ahead of the Dalai Lama's trip, China had threatened Paris with consequences if a meeting with the French government were to take place.
"This is a disgrace," said the conservative president of the 180- strong parliamentary study group on Tibet, Lionnel Luca, who also branded Paris' behaviour as "self-censorship."
There were people who were quivering with fear about the possible repercussions of receiving the Nobel peace laureate, while the Chinese deserved the "Nobel Prize for dictatorships," he said, referring to Chinese threats against France if Sakorzy met the Tibetan leader.
Asked whether France was bowing to Chinese pressure by refraining from official talks with the Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama said he would be happy to meet Sarkozy. However it would not make a difference if there was no meeting, he said.
Sarkozy had expressed the desire to meet the Dalai Lama in the future, he said.
According to media reports, such a meeting is expected about December 10.
French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is expected to attend an event by the Buddhist leader on August 22.
Ties between the French government and China were damaged in the spring after Sarkozy initially threatened to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Following pressure from China, he later reversed his announcement and attended the ceremony.
While abstaining from criticism of France, the Dalai Lama said he was disappointed about the lack of progress in talks with Beijing on Tibet.
Tibetans were only able to voice their opinions with demonstrations as Beijing had taken freedom of speech and responsibility away from them, the Dalai Lama said.
However, the Tibetan parliament-in-exile would meet in September and present concrete suggestions: "We want to continue the talks," the Dalai Lama said.
Indicating his possible retirement from politics, the Buddhist spiritual leader also said, as a Tibetan in exile, he saw himself as spokesman rather than head of the Tibetans.
Following the formation of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in 2001, he had already semi-retired, he said. He would retire fully soon and concentrate on promoting human values and peace among religions instead, he announced.
Speaking about the ongoing Olympics in Beijing, the Dalai Lama said China, as the world's oldest and most populous nation, deserved to host the games.
