NEW DELHI, Dec 29 (Reuter) - Tibetans would continue to brave strong-arm tactics adopted by Chinese authorities in their quest for autonomy for their homeland, the Delhi office of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said on Sunday.

Chinese authorities on Sunday blamed the Dalai Lama's supporters for a bomb explosion outside a government office in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and have condemned the blast as "an appalling act of terrorism."

"Whenever they (Chinese authorities) have any problem they allege that a conspiracy has been plotted by Tibetan exiles and the Dalai Lama's group," Jampal Chosang, secretary in the Dalai Lama's Delhi office, told Reuters.

"The issue of Tibet will continue to be a major problem for China, if they (Chinese officials) do not negotiate with the Tibetan people," Chosang added.

The bomb explosion on December 25, the largest so far reported in Tibet, caused no casualties but resulted in widespread damage, local officials in Lhasa told Reuters in Beijing by phone.

China routinely blames followers of the Dalai Lama, for anti-Chinese unrest that erupts sporadically in the strategic mountainous region that straddles the Himalayas and runs along China's sensitive border with India.

"The hardening of (the) position of Chinese authorities began from the beginning of April this year," Chosang said. "They did not even allow families to hang pictures of Dalai Lama," he added.

The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent campaign to win autonomy for his homeland, says he wants self-government and freedom of worship in the deeply religious Buddhist region. He fled China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Beijing rule.

The Buddhist spiritual leader has lived in the north Indian town of Dharamsala since then.

"His holiness Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile have been saying 'why not have negotiations with the Chinese leaders'," Chosang said.

"China can continue to shoulder defence and foreign policies but allow Tibetans to have complete self-rule in internal matters like freedom of belief, promotion and preservation of culture, language and religion," he added.

Chosang said that the Chinese authorities have so far not responded to the proposal made by Dalai Lama.