Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Sep 1 (DPA) The Dalai Lama led thousands of people at a public ceremony Tuesday in Taiwan in prayers for typhoon victims despite protests by China over his visit.

He also met with the leader of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in a meeting that was certain to irritate China even more.

In the two-hour prayer service - his first large-scale public activity since arriving in Taiwan Sunday - the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader stressed that he was in Taiwan to pray for the victims of Typhoon Morakot, which killed hundreds when it unleashed landslides and flooding in Taiwan early last month.

'The purpose of my visit is to pray for the deceased,' he said at a stadium packed with 15,000 people.

The two-hour service saw the Dalai Lama chanting sutras, or Buddhist scriptures, and making remarks to comfort the families of those killed in the typhoon-triggered disaster.

Close to 700 people were killed when Morakot slammed into Taiwan, triggering flash floods that inundated thousands of houses in southern and eastern Taiwan, and causing rockslides and mudslides that killed many residents of mountain villages.

Half an hour before the ceremony, the Dalai Lama, who has repeatedly stressed his Taiwan visit was non-political, met with DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen.

The Dalai Lama told Tsai he came to Taiwan to pray for the typhoon victims and he greatly treasured his friendship with the Taiwanese people. He said he hoped his current visit, his third since 1997, would be able to continue to win friendship from the Taiwanese, according to DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsan who was at the meeting.

Cheng said Tsai told the Dalai Lama many people in Taiwan welcomed his visit, but because of the 'complex political situation' on the island, it had created inconvenience for the Dalai Lama.

Cheng was referring to the reluctance of China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou to display the due respect and necessary decorum to the Dalai Lama during his five-day Taiwan visit. In his 1997 and 2001 trips, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader was well received by presidents Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian respectively.