The International Campaign for Tibet reported (Global Times - June 18, 2019) that a nationwide political campaign in China against “black” and “evil forces” has intensified in Chinese-occupied Tibet with a strong emphasis on cracking down on “separatism in the name of religion” and loyalty to the Dalai Lama. Hardline Communist Party officials have warned that overseas Tibetans influenced by the Dalai Lama are also key targets. Twenty-one Tibetans are known to have been sentenced to prison in May in connection with the campaign, including two heads of villages and a nomadic camp leader accused of founding an environmental protection organisation. Images published by local authorities in Tibet showed a black-uniformed police squad arriving to arrest a Tibetan who is prominent in the community and had refused to be relocated. The intensification of the crackdown in Tibet was announced by an inspection team to Lhasa in mid-June led by Zhu Weiqun, a Chinese official known for his harsh rhetoric against the Dalai Lama. Chinese state media said the crimes they were targeting “are usually related to separatist forces in the region” and quoted Zhu Weiqun as saying: "We strongly oppose and resolutely crack down on any separatist force in the name of ethnicity or religion, which are mainly organised by the Dalai clique.”

(Comment: The fact that Zhu Weiqun led the team indicates that he continues to exercise considerable influence in Tibetan matters though he has retired.)