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Beijing yesterday denounced the proposed visit of the Dalai Lama to Taiwan while accusing the island's opposition Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) "evil motive" to damage cross-Straits relations.

"No matter under what form or identity Dalai uses to enter Taiwan, we resolutely oppose this," the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said in a statement.

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou yesterday approved the visit by the Dalai Lama next week to "comfort victims of the deadly typhoon" earlier this month, after seven DPP mayors and county heads in south Taiwan extended the invitation on Tuesday.

"We've ... decided to let the Dalai Lama visit because he is coming here to pray for the victims, as well as the survivors," Ma told reporters while visiting typhoon survivors.

The DPP politicians said the invitation was sent since "Dalai Lama experienced similar natural disasters in India and he can use his religious power to boost the victims".

About 650 people are feared dead after Morakot, the island's worst typhoon in 50 years, which soaked Taiwan from Aug 7-9.

But the Taiwan Affairs Office said: "The Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure and he has all along been engaged in separatist activities under the pretext of religion."

It accused some DPP members of plotting the visit of the Dalai Lama to "sabotage the hard-won positive situation in cross-Straits ties" and not for the sake of disaster relief.

"The DPP's evil motives will definitely be opposed by compatriots across the Taiwan Straits," the statement said.

Taiwan allowed visits by the Dalai Lama in 1997 and 2001.

Ma last year quashed hopes for a new visit by the Dalai Lama, saying the timing was bad.

Since taking office in May 2008, Ma has pushed for closer ties with the mainland and drawn criticism from the pro-independence DPP for being "too friendly" to Beijing.

（英语点津 Helen 编辑）

Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op'Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily's Website opinion section.

He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.