New Delhi - Tibetan exiles ended a meeting in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala on Saturday, agreeing that a tougher stand should be taken in negotiations with China, officials and delegates attending the meeting said.

A little over 600 Tibetan exiles attended the six-day meeting in Dharamsala, which saw intense discussions on whether there should be a shift of policy to advocate independence. Many representatives of the younger generation advocate such a move.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, had called for the special meeting after admitting in October that his "middle way'" policy of securing greater autonomy for Tibetans within China had failed.

Beijing - A student in southern China is the latest intruder to discover that captive pandas are not as cuddly as they look, after he was savaged at a zoo in the city of Guilin, state media said on Saturday.

The student, identified only by the surname Liu, scaled a two- metre fence into the panda enclosure at Guilin's Qixing Park on Friday afternoon, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Liu was attacked as he approached an 80-kilo male giant panda and required hospital treatment, including surgery, for serious bites, the agency said.

New Delhi - Tibetan exiles ended a crucial meeting on their future in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala Saturday, agreeing to take a firmer stand in dealings with China, delegates said.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama called the special meeting after admitting in October that his "middle way" policy of securing greater autonomy for Tibetans within China had failed.

More than 600 Tibetan exiles attended the week-long meeting which saw intense discussions on whether there should be a shift of policy to advocate independence, a move which many of the younger generation advocated.

Beijing - China has sentenced an online activist to three years in prison after convicting him of subversion for supporting Tibetans who staged anti-Chinese protests, a rights group said on Saturday.

A court in the south-western city of Chengdu, Sichuan province, sentenced Chen Daojun on Friday after finding him guilty of "inciting subversion of state power", the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said in a statement.

The charges against Chen, 40, were linked to his posting online of articles supporting Tibetans who staged widespread, often violent protests against Chinese rule in March 2008.

Chen, a freelance writer, was unhappy with the court's verdict but was still considering whether to appeal, the group said.

Beijing - Amnesty International on Saturday said it feared China planned to execute a man convicted of spying for Taiwan and sentenced to death 18 months ago.

A Beijing court this week asked the family of former medical scientist Wo Weihan to apply to visit him within seven days after denying them access for nearly four years, the London-based group said in a statement.

"This sudden move suggests that the Supreme People's Court has approved the death sentence and that the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court is preparing to execute Wo Weihan," the group said.

Wo, 59, was sentenced to death in May 2007 for spying after a closed trial, losing an appeal in February.

Geneva, Nov 22 : A UN body has expressed deep concern over allegations of widespread torture in China, and called on that country to fully probe rights abuses.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture, meeting in Geneva, also revisited the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, urging the government to grant reparations and investigate the crackdown, The News reported.