China warns Taiwan not to welcome Dalai Lama

London, Aug 28: Media reports revealed that China has warned Taiwan against welcoming the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The Government of Taiwan has extended an invitation to the Dalai Lama to take part in a prayer meeting with survivors of this month's typhoon, a move that has angered Beijing, reports The Independent.

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama said details were being finalized and he hoped to travel to Taiwan as soon as possible, perhaps as early as next week.

A spokesman for the Chinese Government's Taiwan Affairs Office said it 'resolutely opposed' the decision by Taiwan's President to allow the Dalai Lama to visit 'in whatever form and capacity,'the state-run Xinhua News Agency said.

The invitation was 'an attempt to sabotage' the current good relations between the two countries, he said.

China still claims the self-governing island of Taiwan, which split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war, as part of its territory.

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Takhla, said, "The Chinese must understand that his holiness is going to offer his support and to share in the sorrow."

ANI