South Africa's deputy president says his government would have issued a travel visa to the Dalai Lama if he had not cancelled his plans to attend this week's birthday celebrations of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe told The Star newspaper on Wednesday that he did not see why the Dalai Lama's visit “should be an issue at all,” saying that “of course” he would have been granted a visa.

On Tuesday, the Dalai Lama said he was forced to cancel his trip because of South Africa's failure to grant him a visa. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader had been planning to attend this week's 80th birthday celebrations for Tutu, an anti-apartheid leader.

South African officials again on Wednesday denied being pressured by China, a key trading partner, to block the visit. China regularly applies diplomatic pressure to governments that permit visits by the Dalai Lama.

Deputy President Motlanthe recently returned from a diplomatic visit to China, where authorities praised him for his country's “valuable support” on the Tibetan issue.

Tutu had responded harshly to the government's apparent reluctance to issue the visa, saying on Tuesday that the administration of President Jacob Zuma is worse than the country's former apartheid regime.

The ruling African National Congress party said Tutu's comments were “unfortunate,” and that he should hear the government's side before making accusations.

China has often accused the Dalai Lama and his followers of advocating Tibetan secession, despite repeated assurances that he only seeks to establish autonomy, rather than independence, for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has visited South Africa three times in the past, but his fourth visa application in 2009 was turned down.

He filed another visa request five months ago so he could attend Tutu's birthday celebrations, which begin on Thursday.