BEIJING – The Dalai Lama's current visit to Taiwan will have a "negative influence" on ties between Beijing and Taipei, a senior official warned here on Sunday, quoted by China's official Xinhua news agency.

"The Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan is bound to have a negative influence on the relations between the mainland and Taiwan," a spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said.

The spokesman took aim at Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party for inviting the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, who began his visit on Sunday and aims to comfort victims of Typhoon Morakot.

"The Democratic Progressive Party has ulterior motives to instigate the Dalai Lama -- who has long been engaged in separatist activities -- to visit Taiwan.

"We resolutely oppose this and our position is firm and clear," the spokesman said. "We will keep a close eye on the situation."

Beijing reacts angrily to any country hosting the Dalai Lama, whom it accuses of trying to split Tibet from China, a position that has only hardened after deadly violence in the Himalayan region in March 2008.

But a trip to Taiwan is particularly sensitive. Beijing has regarded the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification ever since it split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.

The current visit threatens to undermine the improved ties between Taipei and Beijing that have been forged by Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou.

Taiwanese authorities have been keen to stress that the visit is spiritual rather than political in nature.

Ma's administration has come under severe pressure domestically over its handling of Typhoon Morakot, which killed at least 571 people this month.