South Africa's government yesterday faced renewed furore over its foreign policy after it decided to ban a visit by the Dalai Lama.

Two of the country's Nobel laureates – Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President FW de Klerk – lambasted the move and said that in protest at the decision to deny a visa to the Tibetan spiritual leader they would not attend a peace conference later this week.

South Africa made the decision after pressure from China, one of its biggest trading partners, although a spokesman said the government had acted independently. Archbishop Tutu, who has been bitterly critical of the leadership of the governing African National Congress in recent years, described the move as “disgraceful” and “a total betrayal of our struggle history”. He said it was in line with South Africa's “abysmal” record on the UN Security Council, where as a non- permanent member the country refused to back condemnation of human rights abuses in Burma, Zimbabwe and elsewhere.