BORDER CONTROL TIGHTENED

In the riot last year, innocent civilians suffered the most.

Tibetan businessman Losang still keeps photos of the damage to his souvenir store near Lhasa's Jokhang Temple. "They broke the glass and took away some of my most valuable items."

Losang feels easier seeing police and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army patrolling Lhasa's streets. "Tightened security is a good thing for business people and all residents."

"Who cares what other people think of the tightened security in Lhasa?" said a Tibetan woman who was taking her preschool daughter for a walk in a park near the Potala Palace.

"It's always easy to point a finger at others, but we are the ones who actually went through the tragic experience last year," she said. "If not for the police and PLA, I wouldn't have dared to take my daughter out to the streets now."

Expecting possible sabotage activities by the Dalai Lama clique, a senior police officer said here Monday that border control has been tightened in Tibet.

"We have made due deployment and tightened controls at border ports, and key areas and passages along the border in Tibet," Fu Hongyu, Political Commissar of the Ministry of Public Security Border Control Department.

"We will firmly crackdown on criminal activities in Tibet's border area that pose a threat to China's sovereignty and government," said Fu, a deputy to the NPC session.

"We will go all out to maintain the security and stability of border and coastal areas," said Fu.

Tibet, a plateau region in China, has a lengthy border with Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2009)