The Dalai Lama will visit Taiwan at the end of this month, a source close to the Tibetan leader said this weekend.
The Dalai Lama is expected to leave Dharamsala on March 29 or 30 and visit Taiwan for more than a week on a trip described as "purely religious in nature."
The exiled Tibetan leader will give Buddhist teachings for six days, but he is also likely to meet President Chen Shui-bian (
The Dalai Lama will spend most of his time in Taipei, but will also visit Kaohsiung.
The Dalai Lama's private office would not confirm or deny his plans.
"His Holiness would like to visit Taiwan soon ... and we hope an announcement will be made soon," said Tenzin Taklha, the Dalai Lama's press secretary.
The visit is expected to be opposed by Beijing. The last time the Dalai Lama visited Taiwan, in 1997, Beijing accused Taiwan of colluding with the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile in separatist activities.
China demands that the Dalai Lama recognize Taiwan as an inalienable part of China as a condition for talks on the status of Tibet. The Dalai Lama refuses to accept any conditions.
The Dalai Lama's proposed visit to Taiwan comes at a time when the links between the Taiwan leadership and the Tibetan exile community are becoming stronger, with increasing interest in Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan.
A second Dalai Lama's visit has long been in the cards. Last April the Tibetan leader declined an invitation to attend Chen's inauguration after stiff opposition from Beijing.
Another visit was postponed late last year after Beijing renewed contacts with the Dalai Lama after a gap of two years.
In December, the Dalai Lama confirmed that his brother, Gyalo Thondup, had visited Beijing and met with officials, and he offered to send a delegation to China.
Beijing declined the offer and said it would only accept Gyalo Thondup as an intermediary. Contact between the two sides has ceased since then, sources said.
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