But he declined to go into details on the talks also involving the State Department's coordinator for Tibetan issues Paula Dobriansky and Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and Pacific Affairs James Kelly.

The US side also declined to divulge details of the encounter. But an official said Washington viewed Tibet as a part of greater China, and was not encouraging separatism in the area.

But the Bush administration's decision to meet the Dalai Lama drew an immediate protest from the Chinese embassy in Washington.

"The US government has repeatedly acknowledged that the United States will not support Tibetan independence," Sun Weide, an embassy spokesman said.

Therefore, Sun said, Washington should not allow the Dalai Lama to conduct "separatist activity on US soil."

"We have made representations to the US side," Sun said.

The Tibetan government in exile argues that it is not seeking independence but greater autonomy from Beijing, and the Dalai Lama argues that dialogue is the only way of solving the issue.

The Dalai Lama was expected to meet Bush yesterday, though White House officials have declined to confirm the meeting is on the president's schedule.

The State Department said last week that the Dalai Lama would meet "appropriate" officials during his stay in Washington.

Earlier, the Dalai Lama met lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and briefed the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

"What a wonderful honor for all of us to breathe the same air as his holiness the Dalai Lama," said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the leader of the minority Democrats in the House of Representatives.

"In 40 years of exile, his holiness has used his position and leadership to promote wisdom, compassion, and non-violence as a solution not only to the present crisis in Tibet, but to other long-running conflicts around the world," she said.

"The survival of the Tibetan identity is an issue of legitimate US and international concern," Pelosi said.

Rights campaigners have accused China of seeking to dilute Tibetan identity with the forced migration of vast numbers of Han Chinese.

Today, the Dalai Lama is due to take part in a ceremony at the National Cathedral in the US capital, marking the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington two years ago.

To mark his visit, the US Senate late Monday approved a resolution recognizing the Dalai Lama's efforts to peacefully resolve the Tibet issue.

China views Tibet as a part of its territory and opposes any official contact between the Dalai Lama and any foreign government.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after an uprising against Chinese rule was crushed by the army.

Since last fall, envoys of the Dalai Lama have twice visited Beijing for talks with ranking Chinese officials.

If successful, the negotiations could pave the way for the return to Tibet of the spiritual leader revered by the Tibetan people.

The Tibetan government-in-exile has said it is considering sending envoys back to China to help pave the way for "serious negotiations" on the Tibet issue.

Beijing police taught to tackle problem foreigners

DPA , HONG KONG

Police in Beijing have been given English phrase books which teach them how to deal with troublesome foreigners in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics, a news report said yesterday.

The 252-page Olympic Security English training manual has been issued to officers to prepare them for the city's hosting of the games and includes situations on how to deal with nosy overseas reporters and foreigners claiming their human rights are being violated.

One section headed "How to stop illegal news coverage" has a policeman confronting a wandering reporter who tells the officer he is working on a story about the Falun Gong, the outlawed meditation group, according to the South China Morning Post.

The policeman tells him: "Falun Gong has nothing to do with the games ... it's beyond your permit." He then criticizes the journalist for breaking Chinese law and takes him off to the Public Security Bureau to clear the matter up.

In another role play, a British woman from Hong Kong is stopped in the street and taken to the police station. When she protests: "You're violating my human rights. I protest" the policeman responds: "No tricks. Don't move."

In other sketches, an Afghan man is treated sympathetically but arrested when he is caught breaking into an American's hotel room in revenge for the American bombing of Afghanistan and a man from China's western Xinjiang province, which has a large Muslim population, is arrested over a bomb threat.

Two million foreigners are expected to visit Beijing for the Olympics and officials have launched a city-wide campaign to raise English standards ahead of the games.