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

TAIPEI, March 23 (AFP) - The Dalai Lama arrived in Taipei Sunday on the second leg of his historic visit to the island of Taiwan to be met by hundreds of excited followers and some noisy demonstrators.

The Dalai Lama, on his first visit to the island, alighted from a black limousine at the Howard Plaza Hotel surrounded by bodyguards and police and headed through the crowds smiling and waving, before disappearing into the elavator.

But outside tensions briefly flared at another entrance to the hotel, heavily guarded by about 60 police carrying riot shields, between rival Taiwan political groups.

Three trucks adorned with large flags from the radical Taiwan Independence Alliance drew up, but then the passengers spotted members of the pro-reunification Labour Party emerge from a car, and tried to attack them with flag poles.

Another group of police intervened and there were brief scuffles, before the incident was contained.

Several minutes later about 12 trucks from another group, the Independent Taiwan Association, arrived on the street outside and about 50 supporters descended with one beginning to shout slogans through a loud-speaker, she said.

Other supporters from the group began beating Chinese drums. There was a brief stand-off with the police who redeployed from the hotel entrance to side of the street, after which the demonstrators moved off.

It was another sign of how the Dalai Lama's visit has struck at the core of the political debate here on whether Taiwan should be seeking independence or reunification with China, with each side of the political divide seizing the opportunity to press home their point.

Beijing has reacted angrily to the coming together of its two arch foes, considering it a move to promote independence for both Taiwan and Tibet.

The Dalai Lama's arrival in Taipei marked the end of a busy day for the exiled Tibetan leader who criss-crossed the south of the island Sunday visiting two temples before addressing 50,000 people in Kaohsiung stadium.

A group of Tibetans performed a welcoming dance as he drew up after flying from the southern city of Kaohsiung, 340 kilometres (210 miles) from the capital, an AFP correspondent said.

The crowds lined the route, waving his portrait and Tibetan snow lion flags. But many only caught a fleeting glimpse of the man considered to be a god-king as he headed for his hotel room.

A huge portrait of the Dalai Lama has been suspended from the ceiling of the hotel lobby, and weeks of preparations have gone into ensuring that his stay will be comfortable.

The chefs have even been learning how to cook Tibetan dishes, while special ingredients have been flown in, its general manager Lu Wen-chuan told AFP.

The eighth floor presidential suite where he will stay for the rest of the six-day visit has been re-decorated and renamed the Norbu Linka after a garden in the Dalai Lama's home of exile in northern India.