China purges Tibetan government of Dalai Lama loyalists: report

BEIJING (AP) - A Hong Kong-based activist group says China is cracking down on pro-Dalai Lama sentiment in Tibet by firing dozens of Tibetan officials and criticizing others who don't speak out against the exiled spiritual leader. Hong Kong's Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy says since July, Communist party secretaries from 54 of Tibet's 74 counties have been fired and replaced by cadres from elsewhere in China.

The group says China is beefing up numbers of non-Tibetan government personnel by appointing 853 volunteers from 17 Chinese provinces and cities to act as government cadres for three years.

It says government promises of bonuses and generous stipends for living expenses helped attract more than 10,000 volunteers.

China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially an independent state for most of that time.

Chinese troops occupied Tibet in 1951 and Beijing continues to rule the region.

Beijing enforces strict controls on religious institutions and routinely vilifies the 71-year-old Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 amid an aborted uprising against Chinese rule.

Tibetans are especially concerned that an influx of China's Han majority, which has grown since a new railway linked Beijing to Tibet's capital Lhasa, will overwhelm the region's unique Buddhist culture.

The Canadian Press, 2007