Two years ago, protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa marking the anniversary of the March 10, 1959 uprising descended into deadly violence, prompting a massive security clampdown in the Himalayan region that is ongoing.

"If there were no anti-China forces or no Dalai to destroy and create chaos, Tibet would be better off than it is today," the region's Communist Party secretary Zhang Qingli said in an interview posted on a government website.

"Although anti-China forces and the Dalai clique are trying to... destroy our harmony and stability, they can never shake our heartfelt belief that China cannot live without Tibet and Tibet cannot live without China," he said.

Tourist officials and hotel operators said the streets of Lhasa remained quiet ahead of the anniversaries of the uprising and the violence, but that foreign tourists still needed special permission to visit Tibet.

"The armed police are still patrolling the streets, just like they have been doing since the riots," an official at the China Youth Tourism Service told AFP, asking not to be named.

China said 21 people were killed by "rioters" in 2008 and that security forces killed only one "insurgent."

But the Tibetan government-in-exile claimed that more than 200 people were killed and some 1,000 hurt in the unrest and subsequent crackdown in the remote, impoverished region.

At least 5,700 people were arrested during the period, the government has said, with many Buddhist monks given long prison terms.

China routinely blames unrest in Tibet on the Dalai Lama, viewed by Beijing as a separatist bent on independence. The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner has denied such accusations, saying he is seeking "real autonomy" for the region.

Zhang's remarks came during the nation's ongoing annual parliamentary session, at which top leaders and lawmakers have heaped praise on Beijing's efforts to develop Tibet.

"Tibet has witnessed the fastest-ever development in its history (under China's rule)," Qiangba Puncog, head of Tibet's legislature, told journalists on Sunday.

Over the last eight years, Tibet has witnessed over 12 percent economic growth annually as 180 billion yuan (26 billion dollars) was poured into infrastructure in the region, mostly by the central government, he said.

Zhang said such investment would continue in the coming years and would remain the bedrock of Beijing's efforts to ensure "socialism with Chinese characteristics" in Tibet.

"Our main task is to improve the lives of the people and give them a foot to stand on," Zhang said.

Zhang further insisted that Tibetans enjoyed full freedom of religion, but that police crackdowns in the region were largely due to "anti-China and separatist forces inciting monks into doing bad things."

Qiangba Puncog said the central government would have the final say on who would be the next Dalai Lama after the current spiritual leader passes away.

"It must get the approval of the central government -- otherwise, the reincarnation will be illegitimate and invalid," he said.

The succession issue could become potentially explosive as many Tibetans still revere the Dalai Lama as a living god.

Traditionally, the search for the figure's reincarnated successor was conducted by the region's high lamas.

But China's officially atheist Communist Party-ruled government has claimed the right to intervene, citing a precedent set by a past emperor.

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