Maintaining stability and guarding against independence activities are the top priorities for security personnel in Tibetan areas, China’s security chief said during a trip to the western regions last week.
They must also “resolutely manage religious affairs, while resolutely protecting normal religious activities”, so as to prevent risks, crack down on crimes, and maintain stability, Chen said on the trip that included stops in the Tibet autonomous region as well as the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province.
The four-day tour, which ended on Friday, was Chen’s first regional inspection trip since the party’s policymaking third plenum in July, and came in the lead-up to National Day on October 1.
China is preparing to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic and security is being tightened in the sensitive Tibet region.
The trip also came less than a month after senior American officials met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, in New York.
