BEIJING, March 19 (Reuter) - Beijing on Wednesday condemned a planned meeting between Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, accusing both of trying to split the Chinese motherland.

A signed commentary in the official China Daily was the latest sign of China's anger at Taipei's decision to allow a visit by the Dalai Lama, Beijing's main rival for the loyalties of Tibet's restive population.

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to make a six-day visit to Taiwan beginning on Saturday. Taiwan's president, a devout Presbyterian, plans to meet the Tibetan buddhist leader during his stay.

The planned meeting has triggered a barrage of invective from Beijing aimed at both leaders.

The Dalai Lama and the Taiwan leader were trying to avoid facing the fact that they were Chinese, the China Daily said.

"Both men are struggling for the same goal: splitting China. They do not really care about the interests of the people living in Tibet and Taiwan and the fate of the nation," it said.

Communist Beijing has considered Taiwan a rebel province since defeated Nationalist troops took refuge on the island at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

China accuses Lee of working toward formal independence for the island, a charge the Taiwan president denies.

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, won the Nobel Peace prize three decades later for his non-violent campaign for autonomy for his homeland.

The China Daily on Wednesday called on both men to abandon their separatist dreams.

"Anyone who goes too far along the separatist road will surely be dealt a deadly blow in the end," it said.