BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuter) - China has set up armed patrols along the Tibetan border to guard against separatist activities in the restive Himalayan region, said an edition of the Tibet Daily seen in Beijing on Friday.

"People's Armed Police border patrols in Tibet are playing an ever-increasing role in maintaining stability, promoting ethnic unity and encouraging economic development in Tibet," the August 22 edition of the newspaper said.

The Ministry of Public Security established a special Tibet border unit of the paramilitary People's Armed Police on August 17, the newspaper said.

The unit would be kept in high combat readiness and "persist in foiling plots and disruptive activities by the Dalai Lama clique," it said in reference to exiled supporters of Tibet's god king.

China has in recent months cracked down on religious activities in the deeply Buddhist region to guard against what it says is a plot by supporters of Tibet's spiritual leader to seek independence.

"The anti-splittist situation is still grave and the task of ensuring the stability of the borders and the region still very formidable," it said.

Thousands of exiled Tibetans in India have campaigned for independence since fleeing with the Dalai Lama in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.

Tibet shares a border with Bhutan, Burma, India and Nepal.