BEIJING, Jan 7 (AFP) - China issued a clear warning to Taiwan on Tuesday against allowing Tibet's exiled spritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to visit the nationalist island.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang stressed that the Dalai Lama had been invited by Buddhist organisations in Taiwan rather than the government would not make his visit any the less objectionable.

"I would like to remind the Taiwan authorities that the Dalai Lama is not simply a religious person, but a separatist who carries his separatist message on the international scene under the guise of religion," Shen said.

"I hope that the Taiwan authorities will be prudent over this issue," he added.

Taiwanese officials have made it clear they would welcome a visit by the Dalai Lama in his role as a religious leader.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

He has never visited Taiwan, which Beijing has viewed as a renegade province ever since nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists on the mainland.