"And that's where Tibet sees its chance," the exiled Tibetan leader told reporters in this southern Croatian city, on the second day of his visit to Croatia.

The Dalai Lama is on a four-day visit to Croatia, but the government does not want to see him, evidently trying to avoid problems with China. The prominent visitor indicated he had some understanding for such an attitude.

While he could not foresee when it would be possible for him to return to Tibet, he said: "Time is on Tibet's side."

The Dalai Lama, considered by his supporters both head of state and spiritual leader of Tibet, fled the mountainous region in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese communist rule.

He lives in exile in India and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his peaceful campaign for greater autonomy for Tibet.

China has run the region with a heavy hand since its troops arrived there in 1950.

It maintains tight control over Tibet, and police oppression is still strong, the Dalai Lama said.

"But if it wants to play a more important role in the world, China will have to take the path of democracy," he said.

There are some "positive signs" in that direction, he said, with Beijing opening up to the West and becoming a critical part of the international community.

The Dalai Lama came to the predominantly Roman Catholic Croatia to the delight of thousands of Croats, who respect him as one of the world's most prominent spiritual leaders.

Tickets for his lectures in Split and later in Zagreb, the capital, have been sold out.

But government officials are not scheduled to meet him, drawing public criticism for seeking not to infuriate China, a U.N. Security Council member.

Asked about that on Saturday, the Dalai Lama said it is more important for him to meet "common people." Besides, he said, "I tend not to create uncomfortable situations" for politicians in the countries he visits.

However, Edin Tuzlak, who heads the Croatian branch of the Amnesty International, said such a behavior is "cowardly and inhuman."

"No one expected them to recognize Tibet or the Dalai Lama," Tuzlak said. But they should have met him "because he is a supreme moral authority ... and because of the human catastrophe that China caused" in Tibet.

In neighboring Slovenia, which the Dalai Lama visited last week, all top state officials privately met him.

Meanwhile, Croatian media reported that Croatia's Catholic primate, Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, was scheduled to meet the Dalai Lama on Monday.

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Last updated: 9-July-2002