Published by World Tibet Network News - Monday, March 24, 1997

TAIPEI, March 23 (AFP) - President Lee Teng-hui Sunday brushed aside China's furious accusations that he was plotting with the Dalai Lama and agreed to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader on the last day of his historic visit to Taiwan.

After much speculation and many hints, the presidential office confirmed for the first time that the meeting would take place Thursday morning.

It will mark a watershed in ties between Taiwan and the exiled Tibetan leader, bringing together China's main separatist foes for the first time.

And it will open a new chapter in relations previously marred by suspicion and distrust.

"The meeting will take place at Taipei Guest House on Thursday morning unless there are some last minute changes," a spokesman for the presidential office said.

By deciding to meet at the government guest house and not in his office, Lee is aiming to soften the political overtones of an encounter which could have far-reaching consequences, not just for ties with mainland China but also at home.

At a conference here Saturday, leading acamedics warned of the visit becoming political, the English-language China News reported.

Thomas Lee, a professor from Tamkang University warned it risked intensifying tensions with China and could undermine the security of the island's 21 million people, adding there could also be an economic impact.

Taiwan should treat the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader and not use him "as a vehicle to reach a political goal," Lee said.

China has kept up its verbal barrage against the six-day visit. "The Taiwan authorities are colluding with the Dalai Lama clique and are going further down the path of splitting the motherland," the Xihnhua news agency Saturday quoted the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Huang Ho as saying.

The meeting is certain to fuel further anger from China, which views with suspicion anything seen to be promoting independence for Taiwan, which it has considered a renegade province since the nationalists were driven here in 1949 after a civil war.

China launched six rounds of war games in the Taiwan Strait after Lee Teng-hui visited the United States in 1995.

Hinting at the controversy surrounding the trip, the Dalai Lama said on his arrival Saturday that he did not want to embarrass anyone and stressed the aim of his trip was to promote harmony and human values.

"Of course, I always keep in my mind that any activities of mine should not create any embarrassment to anybody," he said.

"Here it seems the president is willing to see me so I feel great honour." But the trip has also gone right to heart of the bitter political debate in Taiwan, on whether the nationalist island should be seeking reunification with China or independence.

Angry scuffles broke out Saturday between rival parties as the Tibetan leader arrived at Kaohsiung airport, with both sides chanting their slogans and waving banners.

The radical pro-independence Taiwan Independence Party waved Tibetan snow lion flags and welcomed the Dalai Lama with banners urging independence for both Tibet and Taiwan.

But the smaller Labour Party hit back, urging the Buddhist leader to go away if he did not support China's unity.

Thursday's meeting will also spell a change in Tibetan sentiment towards Taiwan, after long refusing dialogue in the belief the nationalists were justthe Chinese communist government under another guise.

Although it is still government policy, Taiwan has not insisted for some time that Tibet, invaded by Chinese troops in 1951, was part of Chinese territory.

Political science professor at the National Chiao-tung University Wei Yung, meanwhile, accused the government of "sacrificing its own security, power and interests for the sake of international prestige," the China News added.