Sharon Stone has caused controversy by suggesting the recent earthquake in China is "karma" for their government's treatment of Tibet.

The 50-year-old actress said the devastating natural disaster in the Sichuan province on May 12, which killed tens of thousands of individuals and left five million people homeless, happened because the country had treated their neighbour Tibet so badly.

She said: "I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, 'Is that karma? When you're not nice then the bad things happen to you?' "

Ng See-Yuen, who owns the UME Cineplex chain - one of China's biggest cinema chains - has now confirmed his company will no longer show any of the actress' movies in their theatres, labelling Sharon's comments "inappropriate".

China has occupied Tibet since its invasion in 1950, claiming the neighbouring nation is rightfully part of China. Since the occupation began, people have campaigned to liberate Tibet and to end the human rights violations.

In the recent interview, Sharon also revealed she cried when she received a letter from the Tibetan Foundation asking her to help the victims of the earthquake.

She added: "They wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry. It was a big lesson to me that sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who aren't nice to you."

The 'Basic Instinct' star's comments have caused massive controversy worldwide, and have spurned at least one website dedicated solely to attacking the actress.

Sharon has four movies being released between now and 2010 - including 'Streets of Blood', 'Five Dollars a Day' and 'The Year of Getting to Know Us'.