Italy on Tuesday made a formal appeal to China to halt its crackdown on Tibetan protesters.
Speaking for the Italian government, Italian Foreign Undersecretary Gianni Vernetti told Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi that China should avoid using force against demonstrators and should uphold human rights including freedom of expression.
Vernetti also urged protesters to refrain from violence, foreign ministry sources said.
Italy also urged China to supply ''satisfactory clarification'' on the situation as soon as possible, the sources said.
China should seek ''direct dialogue'' with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama with the aim of achieving ''a lasting solution, acceptable to all, with respect for the culture, religion and identity of the Tibetan people''.
After the meeting, Vernetti told ANSA that Ambassador Sun had indicated China might be amenable to Italy's proposal for a European Union mission to the Tibetan capital Lhasa and the Chinese capital Beijing.
Vernetti said it would be ''difficult'' for China to refuse a mission aimed at easing tensions and ensuring the transparency of currently ''confused'' information from Tibet.
The mission proposed by Italy would be made by the so-called EU troika - the head of the European commission and the current and next duty presidents of the EU.
Vernetti said China needed to take ''concrete'' steps before this summer's Beijing Olympics.
These would include, he said, halting the crackdown, freeing protesters, ensuring accurate information and opening a dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
Speaking on Italian radio, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema rejected calls to boycott the Olympics.
He said the Beijing Games were ''an unrepeatable opportunity'' to put pressure on China to allow dissidents to voice their grievances.
A boycott might ''put the situation in China back in the shadows,'' he said.
D'Alema also said the Dalai Lama's mooted resignation posed ''the risk of a total loss of control of the situation in Tibet''.
''The Dalai Lama has exercised a moderating influence'' and has refrained from demanding independence, D'Alema noted.
''Once again, we invite the Chinese authorities to stop the repression which is not tolerable and also open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, which is all the more (necessary) in this moment in which China needs to boost its international credibility in view of the Olympics''. Earlier, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said he expected the European Union to take some form of action.
The speaker of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, suggested that European Union leaders should boycott the Olympic opening ceremony.
Ahead of his meeting with Sun, Vernetti responded to a statement from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that the Dalai Lama and his ''clique'' were orchestrating riots and trying to sabotage the Beijing Olympics.
''Speaking of a Dalai Lama clique is really anachronistic. The Dalai Lama is a resource, not a problem.'' The Tibetan government-in-exile has raised its confirmed death toll from clashes since Friday between Chinese authorities and Tibetan protesters to 99, saying 19 had been killed on Tuesday.
China says 13 ''innocent civilians'' have been killed in rioting and looting. Chinese TV on Tuesday said 100 people involved in Friday's disturbances had obeyed an ultimatum to turn themselves in. Earlier the Dalai Lama said: ''If things become out of control then my only option is to completely resign''.
Tibet's spiritual leader, who fled into exile in India in 1959, denied Chinese accusations that he was masterminding protests and said he was against violence, whether from Chinese or Tibetans.
The Nobel peace laureate says he wants autonomy for Tibet within China but not outright independence. The monk-led anti-China protests in Lhasa have been the biggest in almost two decades.
Protests have spread to neighbouring areas while Chinese embassies around the world have become the focus for demonstrations.
