BEIJING, Jan 7 (Reuter) - Beijing's propaganda machine has accused the United States of using Tibet's exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, as a tool to Westernise and break up China.

``Western countries, led by the United States, have directed the focal point of their 'Westernisation' and 'disintegration' (campaign) at China,'' the Tibet Daily said in an edition seen in Beijing on Tuesday.

``(They) have made the Dalai Lama clique their tool to implement this anti-Chinese strategy,'' the newspaper said, noting that the West had showered awards on the Dalai Lama, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

China has rarely singled out a country for backing the Dalai Lama, one Chinese analyst said.

Sino-U.S. relations have been strained in recent years by disputes over Tibet as well as Beijing's diplomatic rival Taiwan, human rights abuses and widespread copyright piracy in China.

China blames followers of the Dalai Lama for periodic unrest in the Himalayan region bordering India.

The Dalai Lama says says he wants autonomy and freedom of worship in his deeply Buddhist homeland.

He fled China into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against communist rule.

The December 30 edition of the Tibet Daily slammed Western criticism of China's human rights record in the region, saying critics ``confused black with white.''

``Sovereign rights are much more important than human rights,'' the newspaper said, quoting 92-year-old paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.

``The sovereignty and security of the state should be placed first,'' it said.

The newspaper argued that communist rule protected the rights of the majority of Tibetans by ending slavery and raising living standards.

Tibet has been rocked in recent years by sporadic, sometimes violent, anti-Chinese unrest with monks and nuns often at the forefront of demonstrations for independence.

Chinese authorities have offered a reward of one million yuan ($120,000) for the arrest of those responsible for a bomb set off on Christmas Day outside government offices in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

No casualties were reported, but the bomb caused widespread damage, shattering windows 100 metres (yards) away, officials have said.

Chinese officials have said there was little doubt the blast was politically motivated and carried out by followers of the the Dalai Lama.

Last week, Tibet's government-in-exile in Dharamsala, in northern India, denied the Chinese allegation, saying the bombing could have been carried out by China as an excuse to crack down on dissent.

Chinese authorities have tightened security across Tibet in the run-up to New Year celebrations next month and vowed to continue a campaign to indoctrinate monks and nuns to be ``patriotic'' and to pledge allegiance to the Chinese government.