Cherie Blair risks political row over picture with exiled Tibetan

Cherie Blair has risked controversy again by meeting a diplomat from the exiled government of Tibet, which is not recognised by the Government. The Prime Minister's wife had her photograph taken at the Labour Party conference with a senior figure in the campaign against Chinese rule in the Himalayan nation.

The meeting is likely to prove embarrassing to the Foreign Office, which has steadfastly refused to recognise the Dalai Lama's government in exile, fearing it would anger China, which invaded Tibet in 1949.

Her gesture is likely to be interpreted by critics of Mrs Blair as another example of inappropriate political activity. She was widely criticised this year when she declared shortly after a suicide bomber killed 19 Israelis on a Jerusalem bus, that progress towards peace in the Middle East would not be made "as long as young people feel they have got no hope but to blow themselves up".

At this year's Labour conference, Mrs Blair toured several stalls but avoided having her photograph taken with some, such as the Tobacco Alliance. She did visit a stand run by the Office of Tibet and the Tibet Society, which was distributing leaflets about human rights abuses in Tibet under Chinese rule.

Tsering Tashi, secretary of the UK Office of Tibet, who posed for a picture with the Prime Minister's wife, said last night that she had made "a wonderful human gesture". He added: "We were quite moved by it because there were so many stalls trying to get her attention and she came towards us. That was very touching."

Next week, the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile, Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, will visit Britain to talk to MPs about the rule of the Chinese. The Foreign Office has been criticised for not meeting him. "We do not have official contact with the Tibetan government in exile," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "The policy of the British Government would be to regard Tibet as autonomous while recognising the special position the Chinese have."

Yesterday, the Chinese embassy in London, which has shown signs of softening its hardline attitude to meeting members of the exiled government this year, said it did not wish to comment on Mrs Blair's meeting.

But Philippa Carrick, of the Tibet Society, who also met Mrs Blair, said: "The fact that she stopped at the Tibet stall showed that she's willing to show a personal interest in the problem and not shy away like other people."

Mrs Blair's official spokes-woman said she was not making a political statement by meeting the Tibetan representative. "I have never seen Tibet as a cause that she particularly cares about," said the spokeswoman.