DHARAMSHALA, January 29: Fifteen officials of the Communist Party of China have been “put under investigation in 2014” for “illegal underground Tibetan Independence” organization, providing “intelligence to the Dalai Lama clique” and “assisting activities that would harm national security”, the Chinese government run English news portal Global Times reported without giving details.
The report quoted Wang Gang, an official with the Party discipline inspection commission of Tibet, as saying that several officials were punished by the party for “violating Party and political discipline in 2014.”
Matteo Mecacci, President of the Washington, D.C.-based International Campaign for Tibet, said the move connects Xi Jinping’s politicized drive against corruption with the ‘fight against separatism’, which he said is “allied with the increasingly systematic political campaign to eliminate loyalty” to the Dalai Lama. “Punishing Tibetan officials for allegedly supporting the moderate policy of genuine autonomy put forward by the Dalai Lama is a radical and wrong move that could further alienate the Tibetan population.”
According to the report, the Communist Party of China punished a total of 240 people for breaching “eight-point” anti-bureaucracy and formalism rules issued in 2014 and 138 of them have been given Party punishment.
The International Campaign for Tibet also said that campaigns directed against the Dalai Lama’s influence, Tibetan culture and religion, mean that in recent years almost any expression of Tibetan identity not directly sanctioned by the state can be branded as ‘anti-separatist’ and
The Chinese state media also reported that the CPC carried out similar cleansing drive in Qinghai Province following visits of a ‘disciplinary’ work team. The work team was involved in the “rectification” of “a few Party members who were involved in Tibet-related instability events, and Party members who were criticized for having a blurred ideological understanding of the anti-separatist struggle”.
The International Campaign said that Tibetans – including officials – in Qinghai have been at the forefront of moderate, scholarly efforts to protect Tibetan language and develop education through influencing policy. This action, ICT said, may signal increasing scrutiny of officials in Amdo who are seeking to influence policy in ways that seek to take into account Tibetan concerns, and the protection of Tibetan culture and religion.
