TAIPEI, March 17 (AFP) - The Dalai Lama's exiled government hopes to set up a liaison office in Taiwan, Gyalo Thondup, the second brother of the Tibetan spiritual leader, told state television here Tuesday.

"Isn't it good if there is an institution that can arrange religious exchanges (between Taiwan and the Tibetan government in exile)?" a smiling Thondup said on his arrival at Chiang Kai-shek international airport.

Thondup, who served as a go-between in long-running talks to arrange the Dalai Lama's impending March 22 to 27 visit to Taiwan, said his brother was pleased to be making the trip.

"He feels it is a good thing to come to Taiwan after so many years of arrangement," Thondup said.

The Dalai Lama is to speak at a gathering in a stadium in the southern city of Kaohsiung on the first day of his trip.

He is to meet with Taiwanese religious leaders in Taipei on the second day and pray for world peace at another gathering in northern Taoyuan on March 25.

He is also expected to meet with President Lee Teng-hui but the presidential office would not confirm whether the encounter would take place.

China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, reacted sharply to the anticipated meeting between the leaders, both of whom it has branded "separatists."

Taiwan split from the mainland in 1949 at the end of a civil war, while the Dalai Lama and his followers have lived in self-imposed exile in India since fleeing Tibet following an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.