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BEIJING — The Dalai Lama's frequent high-profile foreign tours this year show China's enduring attempts to isolate the Tibetan spiritual leader and ruin his image have had little impact, observers said.

Defying harsh warnings from China, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday held a historic meeting with the Dalai Lama in Berlin, during which she gave support to his quest for greater cultural autonomy for his homeland.

In what has become a familiar pattern, China reacted angrily to the encounter, warning Germany that bilateral ties had been damaged and insisting the Dalai Lama was a dangerous figure who sought independence for Tibet.

But analysts and Tibetan rights activists said Western governments appeared to be paying little heed to China's protests as their leaders this year continued to welcome the respected Nobel peace prize laureate.

"China's current policy to limit the Dalai Lama's international influence has basically failed," said Gu Xuewu, political science professor at the Bochum University in Germany.

Aside from Merkel, the Dalai Lama also met Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer this month and was received by Australian Prime Minister John Howard in June.

He is also scheduled to meet Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper next month while US President George W. Bush plans to attend a ceremony to honour him with the Congressional Gold Medal on October 17 at Capitol Hill.

Western governments are increasingly ignoring China's verbal threats as they realise Beijing cannot afford to take any real retaliatory measures that would impact on trade ties, Tibetan rights groups said.

"I think it represents the growing realisation that China needs the outside world as much as the outside world needs China," London-based Free Tibet Campaign spokesman Matt Whitticase said of the Dalai Lama's itinerary.

"The political legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party rests upon its ability to deliver double-digit growth year-on-year. It would be senseless for China to put sanctions on some of its most important trading partners."

Paul Bourke, executive director of the Australian Tibet Council, pointed out that although China complained about Howard meeting the Dalai Lama, it went ahead and signed multi-billion dollar energy deals with the country a few months later.

"President Hu Jintao attended APEC (the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney) and was very warm with the Australians so it seemed that no negative impact came from those meetings," he said.

Apart from worries over losing trade, China is also afraid of escalating Tibet to an even bigger diplomatic issue, Gu said.

"It has no effective retaliatory measures... applying sanctions will be inflicting harm upon itself," he said.

"China doesn't want to make too much of a big deal, then the Tibet issue will be even more internationalised and it will have played into the Dalai's hands."

However, even though the 72-year-old Dalai enjoys worldwide popularity, China still has the upper hand when it comes to the one thing that he holds most dear -- to return to his homeland.

"The Dalai Lama is 72, there is a sense of urgency for him to return to Tibet," Gu said.

"Although (his exiled government) has been negotiating with China in recent years, China has been dragging its feet. It hopes that after he dies, the Tibet issue will disappear."

Similarly, China has shown no sign of giving Tibet greater autonomy.

China has ruled Tibet since sending troops in to "liberate" the Himalayan region in 1950. The young Dalai Lama fled his homeland following a failed uprising in 1959.

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