Attempts by both Chinese and Australian government officials to undermine the current tour of Australia by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama have backfired, as tens of thousands of people attending his public events.

Speaking at the reception in Parliament House Friday, the Dalai Lama, warned that "inside Tibet the human rights situation is becoming worse". He stressed that he did not seek independence for Tibet but a degree of autonomy over all issues except foreign affairs.

China, which rules Tibet as a province, refuses to recognise the Dalai Lama. In a statement this week, the Chinese embassy accused Tibet of formerly being ruled by a 'despotic' feudal regime and accused the Dalai Lama of being a ''splittist'' wanting to divide Tibet from the Chinese nation.

However, Tibetan support groups in Australia accuse the Chinese government of using a ''heavy-handed'' attempt to prevent the Australian public from hearing the Dalai Lama, who is in the country for a nine-day visit.

''There has been quite a strong campaign of pressuring venues not to provide space for displays on Tibet or venues for meetings featuring the Dalai Lama,'' said the president of the Australia Tibet Council, Dr Alex Butler. "They (the Chinese government) don't like how popular he is,'' she said.

Packed public events

At the direction of the Australian government, approval for the National Press Club to host a televised lunchtime discussion with the Dalai Lama at the Great Hall in Parliament House in Canberra was withdrawn.

"The exhibition on the history of Tibet was censored by the New South Wales Parliament that and then all of a sudden the Queensland Museum, which agreed four months ago to take the exhibition, suddenly cancelled on us,'' Butler said.

Others ignored the lobbying by officials from the Chinese consulate in Australia. The Sydney Opera House, where the Dalai Lama will be appearing on Sunday, acknowledged it had been lobbied but declined to reveal details of requests by Chinese government officials.

The city council of Geelong  you should show your friends you are principled, this is important,'' he said.