**Taiwan has approved a visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, in a move that could anger China.**Last year President Ma Ying-jeou refused to grant permission for a visit, saying the timing was not right.
But he has now agreed to a request the opposition, which has invited the Dalai Lama to come next week to comfort victims of deadly Typhoon Morakot.
Beijing usually opposes any official foreign visit by the Dalai Lama, calling him a dangerous separatist.
This trip is particularly controversial given the past enmity between China and Taiwan, and the fact that Beijing considers the island to be part of its territory.
But correspondents say China’s criticism may be more muted than might otherwise have been expected, because officials in Beijing are wary of playing into the hands of Taiwan’s pro-independence opposition.
Praying for the dead
President Ma held a five-hour meeting with security officials before he decided to allow the Dalai Lama’s visit.
The Tibetan spiritual leader is due to arrive on 31 August, and stay for four days, with the focus of his trip being to comfort those affected by Typhoon Morakot, which struck in mid-August.
“We’ve… decided to let the Dalai Lama visit as he is coming here to pray for the dead victims, as well as the survivors,” Mr Ma told reporters.
An estimated 500 people were killed by severe flooding and mudslides caused by the typhoon, the worst Taiwan has suffered for 50 years.
Mr Ma’s administration has been criticised for its slow and inefficient response, and his popularity has plunged to a record low of 20% over his handling of the disaster.
According to the BBC’s Cindy Sui in Taipei, the president needed to give the green light to the Dalai Lama’s visit because he could not afford to hurt his and his party’s image any further.
The Dalai Lama has long been eager to visit Taiwan, and is looking forward to the trip, his aide told Reuters news agency.
Chinese reaction
Such a visit would normally trigger loud protests from Beijing, which considers Taiwan, along with Tibet, as an inseparable part of China.
But it is unclear whether Beijing will react so strongly this time.
The Chinese government has improved its relationship with Taiwan under Mr Ma, and considers his administration far easier to deal with than the island’s previous pro-independence leadership.
Correspondents say that if Chinese officials were to harshly criticise the visit, they might play into the hands of Taiwan’s opposition.
A spokesman for Taiwan’s Presidential Office refused to say whether Beijing had yet been informed of the decision, but he said “cross-strait relations will not be negatively affected by allowing the Dalai Lama to visit.”