Despite complaints from the Chinese authorities, Italian car manufacturer Fiat has refused to pull an advert which shows Buddhist actor Richard Gere gleefully playing with traditional Tibetan children.

Fiat did issue an apology to China on Monday but said that the commercial for the new Lancia Delta would remain on-air in Italy and even spread to other European countries. They denied that Richard Gere had been chosen for his free-Tibet stance and ties with the Dalai Lama, and said they did not mean to "interfere with the internal political system of any country". However the advert, which has caused outrage on YouTube where Chinese web users can watch it, is just the latest in a string of offences that have upset Chinese people over Tibet. A month ago Sharon Stone was dropped from a Christian Dior campaign after saying that the earthquake in China was bad karma for its treatment of Tibet.