Below is an article published by CBS News :

The Dalai Lama said Wednesday [9 September]  that his mission to Taiwan to comfort the victims of Typhoon Morakot was a success.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, the Tibetan spiritual leader said he was moved to meet survivors of the typhoon when he visited Shiao Lin, the village where hundreds died in catastrophic mudslides spawned by the typhoon's torrential rains early last month.

"It's a very sad sort of scenery," he said. "And I met, besides some officials, some real victims, crying. It's very sad."

"But fact is fact," he added, acknowledging Morakot's devastation. "It's already happened."

The Dalai Lama spoke during a 90-minute train trip from the southern city of Kaohsiung to Taipei on the third-day of his five-day visit.

He said despite "the very sad sort of scenery" he had seen at Shaio Lin, he felt he achieved the primary goal of his mission by bringing comfort to Morakot's survivors.

"I'm very much satisfied," he said. "I feel the main purpose of this visit fulfilled."

The visit has been roundly condemned by China, which reviles the Dalai Lama because he has a large international following and has managed to keep Beijing's heavy-handed rule over Tibet in the spotlight.

But in his comments, the Dalai Lama said he was not perturbed by the Chinese condemnations, saying he was well used to them.

"It's almost routine now," he said. "Wherever I go in my talks or lectures in an academic sort of center like a university, sometimes the Chinese missions protest. That's quite normal."