China’s top Tibet official orders tighter control of Internet

The move is latest in a series of measures the govt says are intended to maintain stability.

China’s top official in Tibet has urged authorities to tighten their grip on the Internet and mobile phones,state media reported on Thursday,reflecting the government’s fears about unrest ahead of its annual parliamentary session.

Chen Quanguo,who was appointed the chief of the Chinese Communist Party last August,urged authorities at all levels to further increase their alertness to stability maintenance ahead of the National People’s Congress. Chen also vowed to completely crush hostile forces that he said were led by the Dalai Lama,suggesting that he will not ease the government’s hardline stance towards the region,enforced by his predecessor Zhang Qingli.

The move is the latest in a series of measures the government says are intended to maintain stability,and comes after a spate of self-immolations and protests against Chinese control in the country’s Tibetan-populated areas like Sichuan and Gansu provinces. It is likely to mean phone and online communications will be even more closely monitored and censored than is normal.

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March is a particularly sensitive time for Tibet,as it marks five years since deadly riots erupted across the region. Twenty-two Tibetans,mostly Buddhist monks,have set themselves alight in protest since March 2011.

The Chinese government has repeatedly blamed exiled Tibetans for stoking the protests,including spiritual leader the Dalai Lama,who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising. China has ruled Tibet since 1950.