UK cancels Tibet visit

Tibetan activists yesterday welcomed the British toughness which led to the cancellation by China of a planned trip to London by top Tibetan officials.

The Foreign Office said that the trip could only go ahead if the officials met organisations like the Free Tibet Campaign. The Chinese then cancelled the trip. Robbie Barnett of the London-based Tibet Information Network talked of a "flexing of ethical muscle", and argued: "What the British are doing is more significant than we thought."