By Jane Macartney

BEIJING, Feb 22 (Reuter) - The Tibet government has warned of fresh attempts by the Dalai Lama to split the troubled Himalayan region from China and called for a renewed propaganda offensive against the region's exiled god-king.

The warning was issued by officials meeting in the Tibetan capital Lhasa to review the disputed search for the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the region's second ranking monk, the Tibet Daily said in its February 13 edition received in Beijing on Thursday.

"Although we vanquished the political plots of the Dalai Lama in the work of the search for the Panchen Lama, however, the Dalai Lama will not so easily feel his defeat," the Tibet Daily quoted Tibet government vice-chairman Laba Pingcuo as saying.

"He will continue to use various methods and in countless ways make use of his religious influence to pursue his evil activities to split the nation and destroy the unity of the people," Laba was quoted as saying.

"Because of this we must be vigilant and aware that the Dalai Lama is not only stretching out his hand to destroy the search for the Panchen Lama, but his fundamental aim is to create social chaos in Tibet," he said.

The region must intensify its propaganda offensive against the influence of the Dalai Lama, he said.

The Chinese-sanctioned search for the Panchen Lama was dogged by controversy in its final months last year after the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan search team came up with rival six-year-old reincarnations.

The Dalai Lama's announcement of the 11th Panchen Lama -- a boy found by the Chinese search team -- enraged Beijing which issued a stream of abuse against the exiled god-king, accusing him of interfering and of trying to split China.

China later sponsored an ancient ceremony in Lhasa, presided over by senior Communist Party officials, to give its stamp of approval to six-year-old Gyaincain Norbu as the "soul boy" recipient of the spirit of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989.

Since Beijing engineered its Panchen Lama choice last November, it has portrayed spiritual succession as part of an epic 30-year struggle with the Dalai Lama -- frequently condemned by China has a pro-independence "splittist."

The Dalai Lama and thousands of followers fled to India in 1959 after an abortive Chinese uprising, but he continues to command the loyalty of many Buddhists in Tibet.

The region has been rocked by a series of often violent pro-independence protests since 1987 and China has jailed many monks and nuns who have spearheaded the movement to separate Tibet from China.

China asserted sovereignty over Tibet after its 1949 communist takeover, sending troops to purge Tibetan feudalism and install socialism.

The attack on the Dalai Lama that covered most of the front page of the Tibet Daily underlined persistent Chinese nervousness about the influence in Tibet of the man many Tibetans regard as both their spiritual and temporal leader.