BEIJING, Aug 16 (AFP) - China has banned a historical Tibetan play and book over references to a 17th century figure that Beijing has now branded as a separatist, the Tibet Information Network (TIN) said Saturday.

Quoting a speech given by Tibet party secretary Chen Kuiyuan, the London-based group said the outlawing had occured in the runup to a new campaign to "make socialist literature and art prosper."

Both the book and the play are centered on the Potala Palace in Lhasa and include references to Sangye Gyatso, the chief minister of the 5th Dalai Lama who died in 1682.

Sangye Gyatso was responsible for appointing the 6th Dalai Lama without informing China, which had informal links with Tibet at that time.

Chen labelled him a "separatist chieftain" on July 11.

"There are no previously known reports of Chinese condemnation of Sangye Gyatso as a separatist," TIN said in a statement.

The banned play, "The Secrets of the Potala" was produced by the Lhasa Theatre Troupe in 1996 and toured China until it was banned for "political reasons."

It was based on an earlier film made by same group which was banned in 1991, reportedly for showing a meeting between the 5th Dalai Lama and Chinese Emperor Shizu where the Dalai Lama did not kowtow.

The book was an illustrated guide to the treasures and history of the Potala Palace with commentary in Chinese, Tibetan and English.

It was reportedly withdrawn because it contained a portrait of Sangye Gyatso.

China has grown bolder in its crackdown on religious and other dissent in Tibet since the present Dalai Lama enraged Beijing in 1995 by appointing the new Panchen Lama without China's consent.

The Panchen Lama is the second highest religious figure in Tibet behind the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile after an abortive uprising against eight years of Chinese rule in 1959.