By Jane Macartney

BEIJING, Sept 29 (Reuter) - Mention of the Dalai Lama brings smiles to the faces of many Tibetans but raises fury from their Chinese rulers who see his globetrotting as part of a conspiracy to undermine Beijing rule over the restive Himalayan region.

"Dalai Lama picture?" an elderly Tibetan nomad on a pilgrimage in Lhasa, capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, begged of a visiting reporter last week.

It is a plea that enrages the Chinese government and has prompted a campaign throughout Tibet to ban all pictures of the exiled living Buddha and to stamp out his persistent influence over Tibet's deeply devout Buddhist people.

Tibet Communist Party secretary Chen Kuiyuan delivered a hard-hitting speech to officials in the region, warning them not to be deceived by the blandishments of the "Dalai Lama clique" and urging unity against "splittist" wanting independence, said the Tibet Daily available in Beijing on Sunday.

Officials in Beijing voice outrage at the warm welcomes and sometimes even official receptions accorded to the Dalai Lama, the 14th reincarnation of the leader who was historically Tibet's spiritual and sometimes temporal leader.

A meeting last week between the exiled Tibetan monk and Australia's Prime Minister John Howard infuriated Beijing and prompted a demand from China that Australia rectify its mistake or face possible trade retaliation.

The Australian side was careful to stress that talks between the two men focused on religion and football.

However, remarks by the Dalai Lama after the meeting about the difficulties of the Tibet issue hinted that he may have had a more political goal in mind.

"The Dalai Lama is not a purely religious leader. He is a political exile who engages in splitting the motherland," Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang said last week.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule and won the Nobel Peace Prize 30 years later for his peaceful autonomy campaign.

Beijing considers him to be a separatist troublemaker and some diplomats say the Chinese may have a point.

All nations recognise Tibet as a part of China and Beijing's claim appears to date back for centuries although its control has at times drifted and Lhasa even on occasion evicted all Chinese officials stationed in Tibet.

"Any move that appears to cast doubt on China's sovereignty over any part of its territory really makes Beijing mad," said one diplomat.

"The communists regard their reunification of China as one of their major achievements and they won't stand for any erosion of that."

But Beijing appears to be losing an international public relations battle that pits China's communist bureaucrats against the smiling, red-robed living Buddha whose personal charm wins western converts in droves. And that just makes China angrier.

International sponsorship of the Dalai Lama's Australia trip by several multinational firms is almost certain to have raised more Chinese hackles as a sign of international interference in China's internal affairs, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

The Dalai Lama says he is seeking international pressure to force Beijing to open negotiations on autonomy for his vast but sparsely populated region.

"The Dalai Lama tells the world that he only wants autonomy and not independence," said one senior Chinese official who declined to be identified.

"But this is only for the rest of the world to see," he said. "In talks with us he has never said that he renounces independence, but the rest of the world does not believe us."

China has been accused of widespread human rights abuses since its troops entered Tibet in 1950. Beijing denies the charges.