Beijing lambasted the Dalai Lama as a criminal on Saturday as representatives of the exiled Buddhist leader headed for a meeting in southern China on the most serious unrest in Tibet for nearly two decades.

The barrage of criticism suggested the government was in no mood to compromise following riots and protests in Tibet, which have shaken China's preparations for the Beijing Olympics and stoked Western criticism of its rule in the mountain region.

"Patriotic people of Tibet strongly condemn and vehemently denounce the litany of crimes committed by the 14th Dalai Lama and his followers," said the official Tibet Daily, according to the region's official news Website (www.chinatibetnews.com).

"They (the aides) should have reached China ... we can't have great expectations (about the talks)," Chhime Chhoekyapa, a senior aide to the Dalai Lama, told Reuters in Dharamsala.

He said the venue for the meeting would be Shenzhen, a boomtown across the border from Hong Kong in southern China.

The Olympic torch's world tour has been dogged by protests over China's rule in Tibet that have angered Beijing and provoked counter-rallies both at home and abroad by patriotic Chinese.

China proposed the talks last week after Western governments urged it to open new dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who says he wants a high level of autonomy and religious freedom for the homeland he fled in 1959.

"BOUT OF MADNESS"

The Tibet Daily repeated charges that the Dalai Lama's "clique" orchestrated deadly riots on March 14 in the regional capital, Lhasa, to wreck preparations for August's Olympics.

"The Dalai clique's hopes of achieving Tibetan independence are increasingly dim, and at this time when their hopes have been destroyed, the Dalai clique launched a bloody violent event - their last bout of madness," said the paper.

The overseas edition of the People's Daily, the official paper of China's ruling Communist Party, said in a commentary on Saturday that the Dalai's claims that Tibetans lack religious freedom was a figleaf for seeking the region's independence.

"The religion issue is merely a card played by the Dalai clique to garner sympathy from some people," it said.

The Dalai Lama has said he objects to violence and supports the Beijing Olympics. China says he is insincere.

China says the rioting in Lhasa in March killed 18 "innocent civilians" and a police officer. It has not clearly specified how many, if any, rioters or protesters have died but says troops used maximum restraint and avoided using lethal weapons.

Exiled groups claim many more Tibetans have died in the crackdown. The Tibetan government-in-exile estimated this week that 203 Tibetans may have died in the unrest since March 10.

The envoys heading for China for what the Tibetan side called "informal talks" are Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, both senior and experienced Dalai representatives, experts say.

There have been six rounds of dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama's envoys since 2002 with no breakthrough.