The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, arrived in Britain Tuesday for a 10-day tour which will include a meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, dpa reported.
However, controversy has been raging over Brown's decision to meet the 72-year-old leader at the headquarters of the Anglican Church in London, rather than in Downing Street, underlining that the visit is of a "spiritual rather than a political" nature.
Brown is due to meet the Dalai Lama Friday at Lambeth Palace, together with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in what has been described as an "inter-faith meeting with several other religious leaders."
"Many people will conclude that the Prime Minister is trying to have it both ways, to see him and not to offend the Chinese government," said Menzies Campbell, the former leader of Britain's Liberal Party.
On Tuesday, the exiled Tibetan leader received an honorary doctorate from London Metropolitan University. He is also due to give five days of teachings in the Nottingham area, central Britain, later in the tour.
Aides have said that the Dalai Lama, following the pattern of his visit to Germany, would combine calls for autonomy for his homeland with sessions of prayers and religious chant to remember the victims of the Chinese earthquake and the cyclone in Myanmar.
He will visit parliament to give evidence on human rights issues to British members of parliament on the key foreign affairs committee.
Pro-Chinese demonstrators are expected to protest against the visit, while pro-Tibetan groups have expressed anger at the apparent "downgrading" of the Dalai Lama's political status.
"It is vital that the British government treat the Dalai Lama not just as a religious leader but also as a political figure," said Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign.
"There is a deep-seated political problem in Tibet and the Dalai Lama holds the key and he should therefore be met in a political setting," said Whitticase.
The Dalai Lama's visit to Britain follows an extended tour of Germany, dominated also by political controversy over the degree of political attention he should be given.
In Germany, only one government minister, Development Aid Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, met with the Dalai Lama.