WELLINGTON, Sept 10 (AFP) - Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will meet New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger Wednesday despite protests from China, a government spokeswoman said.

A spokeswoman for Bolger said Tuesday that Chinese concerns "had been noted" but the meeting would go ahead.

New Zealand maintains that Bolger and Foreign Minister Don McKinnon will see the Dalai Lama in his capacity as a religious figure.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has yet to confirm whether he will meet the Tibetan leader, who arrives there Saturday for a two-week tour.

Confirmation of the Bolger meeting came as the Dalai Lama was greeted by indigenous Maoris and Buddhists as he arrived in Wellington Tuesday for a four-day visit.

Soon after his arrival at Wellington Airport, the Dalai Lama, 61, was given a traditional welcome at a tribal meeting place, known as a marae, where he and Maori elders discussed problems common to Tibet and to New Zealand's indigenous people.

The Chinese government regards the Dalai Lama, a Nobel laureate, not as Tibet's spiritual leader but as a political exile.

China regularly protests when any country hosts the Dalai Lama. In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Wellington said the Dalai Lama's visit to New Zealand represented interference in China's internal affairs.

It said Tibet was an integral part of China.

"The Dalai Lama is not purely a religious personage but a political exile who engages in political activities aimed at disrupting national unity.

"The Chinese government and people are resolutely against his visit to New Zealand in whatever capacity and under whatever reason, to conduct activities aimed at separating the motherland," it said.

The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement last month putting pressure on Australia not to hold "any official engagement" with the Dalai Lama.

The statement was issued following reports that Howard had been advised by foreign office experts against meeting the Dalai Lama to avoid souring already strained relationships with China.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has agreed to a private meeting with the Dalai Lama who is visiting from September 14-29 on his third trip since 1982.

The Chinese statement said the Dalai Lama was not just a religious figure, but a political exile who had been "actively engaged in trying to split the motherland, encourage Tibetan independence and damage national unity."

"Any official engagement with the Dalai Lama should be regarded as support for his activities," the statement added.

Tibet, occupied by China since 1951, has been recognised by Australia as being part of China since diplomatic relations were restored between Beijing and Canberra in 1972.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet to India in 1959 following an abortive uprising.