BEIJING, Dec 21 (AFP) - China has called on wavering officials in Tibet to show the courage of their convictions and to get rid of the "old habits, customs and ideas" of Tibetan Buddhism, reports reaching Beijing on Saturday said.

"For a long time some among the leading cadres and people, have been influenced deeply by the old habits, customs, ideas and system of Tibetan Buddhism and they have no good understanding on religion," an editorial in the official Tibet Daily warned.

"We are facing some difficulties ...But cadres must have courage and a strong will to dare to struggle," it added.

The warning came two days after China established an "administrative commission" in a Tibetan monastery as a new step in implementing iron rule over the troubled region.

Beijing launched its crackdown on a resurgence of anti-China sentiment in May by banning all pictures of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, from monasteries and forcing monks to denounce him.

It also stepped up propaganda on the backwardness of Tibetan Buddhism and how it stopped development in the remote, mountainous region.

But the tightening of control, prompted by the Dalai Lama's naming of the Panchen Lama's reincarnation without Chinese approval, sparked riots in monasteries and general unrest across the region.

Chinese troops took over Tibet in 1951 and then put down an abortive uprising in 1959, prompting the Dalai Lama to flee to India.