By Jane Macartney

BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuter)-Tibet's top official hailed 30 years of formal Chinese rule in the remote region Wednesday, saying communism had replaced butter-fuelled lamps and cow dung with hydro power and an oil pipeline.

Gyaincain Norbu, chairman of what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region, made a speech praising progress in the 30 years since Beijing formalized its rule in the rebellious Himalayan region Sept. 1, Xinhua news agency said.

Norbu, the pro-Beijing Tibetan who nominally runs Tibet, also lashed out fiercely at the region's exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, accusing him of fomenting Tibetan independence and stirring up anti-Chinese sentiment to try to split China.

Tibet is run by an ethnic Tibetan, but real power rests with its Communist Party secretary, who has always been an ethnic Han Chinese. Current party boss Chen Kuiyuan was appointed in 1992.

Tibet under the Dalai Lama was a feudal serfdom, where one million Tibetans had no freedom, but the population has swollen to 2.2 million from 1.05 million in the early 1950s and life expectancy has nearly doubled to 65 from 36, Norbu said.

Old Tibet had not a single iron nail, no standard road and communications were by courier. Butter lamps were the only source of light and cow dung almost the only fuel, he said.

Now, the Himalayan region had 300 industries, was criss-crossed by roads, had satellite communications as well as hydro-electric power stations and an oil pipeline, he said.

He railed against the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India after an abortive uprising in 1959, saying he and his followers were "tools of hostile western forces."

"They turn a blind eye to Tibetan economic and social progress and the improvement of the Tibetan people's standard of living, and refuse to accept the fact that Tibet is marching toward modernisation," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Led by Communist Party politburo member and vice premier Wu Bangguo, a 70-strong Beijing delegation arrived in Tibet Tuesday for anniversary celebrations.

Banners reading "Thank the Communist Party of China central committee and the State Council for their cordial attention" and "Thank the people of the whole country for their generous help for Tibet" fluttered in the breeze, Xinhua said.

Western reporters, who are rarely allowed into Tibet, have been denied permission to cover the anniversary.

People's Liberation Army troops crushed an anti-China revolt in 1959 and Beijing solidified its rule over Tibet in 1965 by setting up the ostensibly autonomous government.

Since the late 1980s, Chinese troops and police have suppressed numerous anti-Chinese uprisings, usually led by lamas loyal to the exiled Tibetan Buddhist god-king, the Dalai Lama, who fled to India with thousands of followers in 1959.

China has pushed hard to modernise Tibet and graft it onto the Chinese motherland but many Tibetans resent Chinese rule and separatist, anti-Chinese sentiment still simmers.