BEIJING, Jan 13 (Reuter) - China told rival Taiwan on Tuesday to be on its guard against Tibet's god-king, the Dalai Lama, warning that the exiled religious leader was trying to split the nation.

China's restrained response to the announcement that the leader of Tibet's Buddhists would make a private visit to Taiwan as early as March appeared to reflect the senior monk's decision to steer clear of the island's government.

``It can be said that he is a splittist trying to divide the motherland,''

Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang said when asked for China's response to the Dalai Lama's planned visit to the Nationalist-ruled island.

``The Dalai (Lama) is a purely religious person,'' he said. ``In the past, in old Tibet, he was the biggest serf owner,'' Shen said. ``After the peaceful liberation of Tibet, he engaged into international activities to split the motherland. ``I hope the Taiwan authorities pay full attention to these two points,'' he said.

Both China and Taiwan, which Beijing has regarded as a renegade province since the end of the civil war in 1949, view Tibet as a part of China.

The Taiwan cabinet's Mainland Affairs Commission has said the Dalai Lama was free to visit Taiwan but only in his capacity as a religious figure.

The Dalai Lama says he does not advocate independence for his Himalayan homeland, but wants real autonomy for the region with Beijing responsible for its defence and foreign affairs.

The head of Taiwan's private Chinese Buddhist Association, Chin Hsin, said on Monday the Dalai Lama would visit as early as March but would not meet government officials.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959, of being a ``splittist'' seeking to divide Tibet from China and accuses governments who meet him during his international travels of meddling in China's internal affairs.