The Dalai Lama headed for typhoon hit areas of southern Taiwan on Monday on the first full day of a tour that China has warned will hurt improving ties with the island.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader headed straight for Hsiaolin, a village where at least 424 people died in Typhoon Morakot, cancelling a press conference that local officials feared could have angered Beijing.
"I'm a monk. I was asked to say prayers for peace," the Dalai Lama said late Sunday after arriving in Taiwan from India. "There is no politics. This is humanitarian in nature."
However, shortly after the Dalai Lama's arrival, the Chinese government issued its second stern criticism of the trip, warning that it would bring about a setback in cross-strait ties.
"The Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan is bound to have a negative influence on relations between the mainland and Taiwan," a spokesman for the cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office said, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.
"We resolutely oppose this, and our position is firm and clear. We will keep a close eye on the situation."
China considers Taiwan a part of its territory, and a visit by the Dalai Lama, whom it accuses of wanting to split Tibet from Chinese control, is a source of particular anger in Beijing.
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