BEIJING, Sept 29 (AFP) - China's top official in Tibet has ordered cadres in the troubled region to criticize exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama without reserve and "fight tooth and nail" against his "criminal" plots to split China.

"You must realize the real face of the Dalai Lama and firmly oppose the criminal activities of the Dalai clique," Chen Kuiyuan, party secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region said in a speech received in Beijing Sunday.

"The essence of our battle against the Dalai Lama is not one of religious belief, or of autonomy, but the protection of the integrity of our country," Chen told a meeting aimed at building up high ideological beliefs among the region's officials.

"All members of the party and leading cadres must criticize the Dalai Lama without reserve and fight tooth and nail against him," Chen added, according to the September 17 edition of the Tibet Daily.

China stepped up its battle against the Dalai Lama, who fled Lhasa in 1959 after an abortive uprising, in 1995 after he enraged Beijing by naming the reincarnation on the Panchen Lama, Tibet's second highest religious figure.

Since then, Beijing has outlawed all photographs of the Dalai Lama, started re-education sessions in Tibetan monasteries and put increasing pressure on nations around the world to refuse entry to the exiled leader.

"The Dalai Lama is the number one criminal of the political seperatists who are pushing for the splitting of China. He is the faithful vassal of anti-China forces throughout the world and the source of the disturbances in Tibet," Chen said.

"He is also the biggest obstacle preventing the re-ordering of religious activities in Tibet," Chen added.

But since the debacle over identifying the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the Dalai Lama has succeeded in raising international concern over religious and political repression in Tibet, much to Beijing's chagrin.

In July, the Dalai met with British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, prompting threats from Beijing of action against London.

His meeting Thursday with Australian Prime Minister John Howard led to similar threats against Canberra.

The visit to Australia "will certainly have an influence on political, economic and commercial relations," said foreign ministry spokesman Shen Guofang.

Shen highlighted what he called the "contradiction between the gestures and words of the Australian government that recognises Tibet as a part of China but receives an exiled politician who wants to divide China." China sent troops to Tibet in 1951, but its sovereignty claims over the region date from the thirteenth century.