BEIJING, March 20 (AFP) - Beijing is terrified that a visit to Taiwan by the Dalai Lama starting this weekend could lead to an anti-Chinese pact between the exiled spiritual leader and the nationalist island, diplomats said.

The visit from Saturday will be the Dalai Lama's first to Taiwan, which Beijing has regarded as a rebel province of the mainland since the end of a civil war in 1949.

"The visit is highly significant for the mainland, which fears above all that the Taiwanese government will use the occasion to modify its official views on Tibet," a diplomat here said.

Despite their political differences, the communist regime founded by Mao Zedong and the Kuomintang of Chiang Kai-shek, have always both regarded Tibet as Chinese territory.

Furthermore, Chang King-yuh, president of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has insisted that the Dalai Lama is citizen of the Republic of China Taiwan's official title and should not therefore be treated as a state guest.

Neither Beijing nor Taipei have recognized Tibet's government-in-exile, set by the Dalai Lama in northern India in 1959 after a failed uprising.

China virulently opposes even the slightest suggestion of Tibetan or Taiwanese independence.

"But opinions on the Tibetan question are changing in Taiwan, notably under pressure from the pro-independence lobby," another diplomat said.

"President Lee Teng-hui, the long time bete noire of Beijing, could be tempted to pull off a media coup and meet the Dalai Lama, also regarded as a sworn enemy of the Chinese," he said.

"He could make some generous promises regarding Tibetan autonomy to boost his image as a progressive leader," he added.

Deputies of Taiwan's pro-independance opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have pressured the government to receive the Dalai Lama as a state guest and allow him to address parliament.

The president told deputies Tuesday that he would meet the Tibetan spiritual leader, but the President's Office has since refused to comment.

The Dalai Lama's brother Gyalo Thondup downplayed Beijing's protest saying he had already briefed China about the trip.

"I have reported details to the Beijing authorities on the Dalai Lama's Taiwan visit," said Thondup, who has acted as a go-between to set up the visit.

He told reporters on arrival in Taipei that the Chinese authorities had reacted "reasonably well" to the planned trip despite some criticisms.

Meanwhile, the China Daily charged Wednesday: "The Dalai Lama acts under the guise of religion and Lee pursues his goals by playing politics ... but they should wake up from their fantasy of splitting China.

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

Diplomats say China fears that any promises of Tibetan autonomy by Taiwan could have repercussion in the far northwestern province of Xinjiang, which has been gripped by a terrorist campaign launched by Moslem separatists.