TAIPEI, March 3 (AFP) - Taiwanese Foreign Minister John Chang stressed Monday the Dalai Lama would not meet with high-ranking government officials on his visit to Taiwan later this month, but organisers of the trip did not rule out a private meeting with President Lee Teng-hui.

"As the foreign minister, it will not be appropriate for me to meet (with the Dalai Lama)," Chang replied when asked to comment on the sensitive event.

However, the United Evening News quoted sources close to the organizers of the trip as saying that "to tell the truth, we are not sure yet whether the Dalai Lama would meet Lee."

Interior Minister Lin Feng-cheng also dismissed reports that his ministry has budgeted 5 million New Taiwan dollars (181,818 US dollars) to finance the visit though he said "he would be pleased to see (the visit) be completed."

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province and views the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader as a political foe, has bitterly criticized the visit.

The Dalai Lama was invited here for his first visit by local religious groups, and Chang said he hoped the trip would not be "politicized."

His visit is scheduled to last six days and begins on March 22, said Master Ching Hsin, the head of the Buddhist group which invited him.

He will deliver a public address at a stadium in the southern city of Kaohsiung on the first day of his arrival.

China has launched a bitter attack on two of its most biggest foes, the Dalai Lama and Taiwan, which separated from China at the end of a civil war in 1949.

"This constitutes evident proof of collusion between the Taiwanese authorities and the clique of the Dalai Lama, who are uniting their forces more and more openly to divide China," Beijing state radio said in a statement aired last Friday.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after an abortive anti-Chinese uprising in 1959.

In a recent interview with Taiwan's China Times, the Dalai Lama said bilateral ties between his exiled government and Taiwan have improved.

"And I earnestly hope we can trust each other and eliminate the past misunderstanding," the Dalai Lama said.

The interview was carried Monday on the front-page of the widely ciculated newspaper.

The Dalai Lama acknowledged he had issued a directive six or seven years ago prohibiting lamas from preaching in Taiwan to avoid hurting bilateral ties.

The upcoming Taiwan trip would mark a stride forward in the improvement of ties eliminating the ban on visits by lamas, he said.

The Taipei government, which until recently insisted it represented the whole of China, demanded that the Tibetan government follow Taipei's position.

The Dalai Lama said he hopes his visit will enable Taiwanese people to better understand Tibet and treat Tibetans as friends.