Lie detector used on Tibetan officials

BEIJING : Local government officials from a Tibetan region of Sichuan province have had to undergo a polygraph or “lie detector” test to prove their loyalty to the Communist Party of China (CPC), a rights organisation has said.

Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) quoted a state media report to say that a group of 168 officials from the prefecture were evaluated in order to gauge their political loyalty to the Communist Party.

“The state media report from Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) stated that the lie detector test was being imposed in order to establish the ‘true feelings’ of party cadres in the region,” ICT said.

“While it stated that this is a matter of establishing their ‘psychological stability’, the priority of the authorities appears to be to ensure political loyalty to the CPC and compliance with CPC policy.”

The state media report didn’t specify the ethnicity of those who appeared for the evaluation.

Published in Chinese in Ganzi Daily last month, the news report, when translated, said: “On April 5, the evaluation of work ability and psychological quality of the recently promoted cadres… was carried out. (As many as) 168 leading cadres took part in the assessment.”

It added, “Through this assessment, the prominent questions on the current state cadres’ ability and psychological quality were further analysed. It could provide decision-making references on the ‘ability and quality promotion project’ and for choosing capable leaders.”

The report further said it was for the first time this “innovative” way was being used for psychological evaluation.

Earlier this month, the Communist Party accused its officials in Tibet Autonomous Region of donating funds to the Dalai Lama, described by Beijing as a separatist conspiring to carve out an independent Tibetan state.