Ahead of a meeting of Nobel peace laureates, the South African government has denied a visa for the Dalai Lama. Though the South African government has not confirmed the decision, the Buddhist leader has canceled his trip to the nation.

The Dalai Lama, leader of the Buddhist faith and activist calling for Tibet's independence, has been a controversial guest for some countries because of his stance on Tibet and his opposition to Beijing, according to Reuters.

The meeting scheduled to happen in city of Cape Town aimed to bring global peace leaders together for a summit. However, the Buddhist spiritual leader will not attend.

"We have informally received contact His Holiness won't get his visa application," Nangsa Chodon, the Dalai Lama's representative in South Africa, told Reuters.

However, the South African foreign ministry denies the allegation that the visa has been rejected, saying "the relevant authorities will communicate with the applicant thereafter. "

The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will take place between Oct. 13 to 15, according to AFP, and will include South African Nobel peace laureates the Archbishop Desmond Tutu and FW de Klerk.

This is the third time in five years that the Dalai Lama has been denied entrance to South Africa and some speculate it could be because of China's increasing economic presence and influence in the African continent. The AFP reports that China is the African nation's largest single trading partner with a two-way trade worth $21 billion in 2012.

A spokesman for Archbishop Tutu warned that, if the Buddhist religious leader is denied a visa, there might be a boycott of the summit. However, the FW de Klerk Foundation cautions against a boycott.

"I think the message has gone out that boycotting the summit would be the very worst way of protesting," the foundation's executive director, Dave Steward, told AFP.

"The best way would be to come to the summit and celebrate the 20th anniversary of our democracy and then make any views they want to make known at the summit."

China, however, adamantly opposes any nation allowing the Dalai Lama to visit their territory, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"The Chinese government is opposed to Dalai's visit to any country in whatever capacity or form to engage in separatist activities," the Chinese embassy in Pretoria said Thursday. "This position remains consistent and firm."