By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING, Sept 24 (Reuter) - China's propaganda machine on Tuesday heaped verbal abuse on Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, accusing him of being a pawn of anti-Beijing forces ahead of a meeting with Australia's prime minister.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang said Australia was interfering in China's internal affairs by hosting the Dalai Lama, and that this would affect political as well as trade ties.

In an indication of the degree of Beijing's anger at the Dalai Lama, the Xinhua news agency invoked abusive language prevalent during the chaotic 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.

"The Dalai Lama ... wagged his tail ingratiatingly at powerful foreign dignitaries," Xinhua said in a commentary.

"What he has done has laid bare his ugly face of seeking power and wealth by betraying his motherland," the official news agency said.

Xinhua said the Dalai Lama was a "schemer...a chesspiece in the hands of international anti-China forces...and the root of social turmoil in Tibet."

The agency slammed Australian politicians and values, saying their words and deeds do not match. "This is absurd," it said.

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, defying Chinese threats of trade retaliation, has agreed to meet the Dalai Lama in Sydney on Thursday.

"He is meeting him as a religious leader," a spokesman for Howard said in Australia, stressing the talks were unofficial.

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama welcomed the confirmation of the meeting and said it was a positive move for the international campaign for autonomy for Tibet.

"It's encouraging," spokesman Paul Bourke told Reuters. The Dalia Lama has urged Howard to lobby the Chinese government in support of his campaign. Australia officially regards Tibet as part of China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen warned that the meeting between the Dalai Lama and Howard would cast a shadow over Sino-Australian relations.

"This shadow will of course affect Sino-Australian political ties. It is unavoidable that it will also affect Sino-Australian trade ties," Shen said.

China is Australia's sixth largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth US$5.2 billion in the year to June 30, 1995.

Beijing routinely opposes all attempts to muster international support by the Dalai Lama, whom it condemns as a pro-independence crusader out to split China.

"The Dalai Lama is not a purely religious figure. He is a politically exiled element," Shen said.

The Dalai Lama, who fled his Himalayan homeland after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, is seeking international pressure to force Beijing to open negotiations on autonomy for the vast but sparsely populated region.

The Tibetan god-king, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, has urged Howard to lobby the Chinese government in support of his campaign. Australia officially regards Tibet as part of China.

The Dalai Lama has also visited the United States, Japan and New Zealand this year.

China has been accused of widespread human rights abuses since troops invaded Tibet in 1950. Beijing denies the charges.

The restive Himalayan region has been rocked periodically by unrest, with monks and nuns rioting.

The Dalai Lama was due to leave Australia next Monday after a two-week visit that also included an unofficial meeting with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.