A French minister says President Nicolas Sarkozy will boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics unless China frees political prisoners and starts dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

Kuang Weilin, deputy consul-general of the Chinese Consulate in New York, on Thursday slammed the Dalai clique for masterminding the violence in China and violent attacks on Chinese missions abroad.

The United States says Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is a man of peace and is rejecting allegations by the Chinese government that he is orchestrating violence in China.

After violence erupted in Lhasa and other Tibetan towns in China, the Dalai Lama, who has called himself an "innocent monk", repeatedly called on for "non-violence" and "dialogue" with the Chinese government and said he would "resign as leader of Tibet's exiles if there are more violent anti-Chinese protests".

The government of China has claimed that the Dalia Lama is cooperating with Islamic extremists as part of a plot to bring the country into crises before the Olympic Games, which are due to be half in Beijing this Summer. The official newspaper of the government of China claimed that "the Dalai Lama is scheming to take the Beijing Olympics hostage to force the Chinese government to make concessions to Tibet independence."

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, has vowed to step down from his position if things "get out of control" in Tibet, where violent demonstrations against China have killed anywhere from 13 to 100 people.

Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and his administration based in India, are calling for an independent, international investigation into the protests that have gripped Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has on Sunday accused China of unleashing a "cultural genocide" in Tibet and demanded an impartial international probe into the situation in violence-hit Lhasa.

A top Chinese official has accused Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of trying to sabotage the Beijing Olympics.

China's premier said that the meeting of the Dalai Lama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has strained relations between the two countries.

Tibetan people will decide whether a new system of leadership is needed for the Himalayan people before Dalai Lama dies, he said Tuesday.

China's Foreign Ministry says the Dalai Lama was in breach of Buddhist religious protocol when he suggested he might appoint a successor before his death instead of relying on reincarnation.