Dalai Lama 'refused' Russian visa

China refuses to recognize the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has been forced to can a visit to Mongolia after Russia refused to issue him a visa.

The Dalai Lama had been scheduled to visit Mongolia this week, but because Russia refused to allow him to transit through, the trip has been postponed until next year, The Associated Press reports.

While Foreign Ministry officials in Moscow have said they were not aware of the request, a Tibetan spokesperson has said the problem arose because the Dalai Lama's trip clashed with several visits by Chinese leaders.

Beijing has been trying to tighten its grip on Tibet's restive and highly religious people since communist troops arrived in the Himalayan region in 1950.

Nine years later, the Dalai Lama fled into exile as an uprising against Chinese rule collapsed, and now lives with other Tibetan exiles in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala.

China says it has had sovereignty over Tibet for centuries, but Tibetans dispute the claim.

Clash over high lamas

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Over the decades the 66-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has sought "genuine autonomy" for his homeland.

But the Chinese government has tried to undermine the Dalai's Lama's popularity and a key flashpoint between them has been who will decide on a successor for Tibet's spiritual leader.

A senior Tibetan official said last month the Chinese government will decide on a successor.

But such an appointment would fly in the face of the spiritual leader's prediction that his reincarnation will be found in a free country outside Chinese control.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji is scheduled to arrive in Russia on Friday and meet with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Kasyanov and other top officials.

His visit is one of a series of high-profile trips by Chinese leaders to Russia to build on what the two countries have dubbed their "strategic partnership."