Taiwan nod for invitation of Dalai Lama

       Taiwan President Ma Yingjeou yesterday approved a proposed visit next week by the Dalai Lama to the typhoon-hit island, sparking strongly worded condemnation from Beijing.
       "We have decided to allow the Dalai Lama's visit to pray for the souls of the deceased and seek blessings for the survivors ofthe typhoon," Mr Ma told reporters in central Nantou county.
       The Dalai Lama,whom Beijing has accused of trying to split Tibet from China,confirmed his trip after the president's announcement.
       The visit, scheduled for Aug 30 to Sept 4, was The Dalai Lama harshly criticised in Beijing, according to state media.
       "The Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure," an unnamed spokesman for the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office was quoted saying by the Xinhua news agency, hours after Mr Ma approved the invitation.
       "Under the pretext of religion, he has all along been engaged in separatist activities."
       China said yesterday that it "resolutely opposes" a decision by Taiwan's president to allow the Dalai Lama to visit the island.
       A spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said the visit by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader,"in whatever form and capacity", would be condemned by China, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
       The spokesman, who was not named, said the invitation was "an attempt to sabotage the hard-earned good situation in cross-strait relations".
       China reacts angrily to any country or territory hosting the Dalai Lama,but a trip to Taiwan is particularly sensitive because Beijing regards it part of its territory awaiting reunification - by force, if necessary.
       Mr Ma's spokesman Wang Yu-chi attempted to play down the political significance of the trip, saying it was "based on humanitarian and religious considerations which should not hurt
       cross-strait ties".
       The Dalai Lama, who made a historic first visit to Taiwan in 1997 and went again in 2001, is expected to visit the south of the island, which was battered by a typhoon two weeks ago which left 543 people dead.
       Mr Ma, as mayor of Taipei, met the Tibetan spiritual leader on his previous visits, although his office declined to comment if they would meet again this time.
       Beijing similarly condemned the Dalai Lama's earlier visits and analysts warned that next week's trip and a possible meeting with Mr Ma could deal a severe blow to warming ties since the Taiwan president took office last year.
       "Ma's government could minimise the damage to cross-strait ties if the visit focuses on religious activities,"said George Tsai, a China expert at the Taipei-based Chinese Culture University.
       Some lawmakers of the ruling Kuomintang party share those concerns.
       "We hope the Dalai Lama will help us seek blessings and ward off disasters.We don't wish to see him engage in political activities here," Parliament Speaker Wang Jin-pyng said.