Local security officials recently conducted anti-espionage lectures for Tibet monks and nuns in Lamaling Temple in Nyingchi, a city in southeastern Tibet. (Photo : www.vtibet.com)
Local security officials in Tibet Autonomous Region have conducted anti-espionage lectures for monks and nuns in the city, news portal Tibet.cn reported.
According to the report, 22 monks and nuns from three temples in Nyingchi, a city in southeastern Tibet, adjacent to the Sino-Indian border, attended the three-hour lecture on counter-espionage law on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Lamaling Temple.
The report said that the lecture explained to the monks how to abide by the counter-espionage law and the legal consequences of violating it.
"Nyingchi is of special importance to anti-espionage efforts because there are many military sites," Penpa Lhamo, deputy head of the contemporary studies institute of the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, said.
Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that monks and nuns are considered vulnerable to espionage activities, as many of them are often visited by senior officials of China. In addition, the temples have always been a focus of the government to maintain the stability of Tibet.
The report said that the lecture also covered a discussion on the intention, content and significance of the counter-espionage law, which was passed in Nov. 2014.
Cui Shixin, an official from Nyingchi's national security bureau, said that he expects the monks and nuns to learn how to enhance their capability to distinguish right from wrong and safeguard national unity.
An anonymous official with the religious affairs office of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Tibet committee, however, claimed that he had never heard of such lectures, although he stressed that they are necessary.
"Monks are also members of the nation and need to abide by the laws and regulations," the official said.
The city has previously conducted legal education in temples and religious sites, mainly covering laws and regulations relevant to ethnic unity, an official surnamed Chen with the ethnic and religious affairs bureau in Nyingchi said.
On the other hand, the Chamdo Prefecture government said on its website that other activities have also been conducted to publicize the counter-espionage law in Tibet, which included joint promotional campaign on the law in eight counties in the region in November.
Analysts believe that Tibet has become the target of many overseas intelligence agencies, to transform it into a critical battleground for espionage activities and take advantage of the active ethnic separatists in the area to sow conflict and turmoil.
In 2014, several officials were investigated for allegedly participating and providing intelligence to the Dalai Lama clique and assisting in activities that would harm national security.
The report said that China has strengthened its crackdown on espionage in the past year.
