Beijing, November 16. According many sources, China's Communist Party leaders are using a propaganda campaign to stop what they see as a significant loss of control by the central government over many parts of the country. In the past few weeks party leaders have waged a massive propaganda campaign throughout China to strengthen the Party's authority in the country. The campaign stems from a decision made following a meeting of the Party Central Committee earlier this year to strengt hen what officials call party building and democratic centralism. Speeches by party leaders in several provinces during the past few weeks have emphasized the importance of crushing any opposition to the Party's control. The most strident of these commentaries was made by the Party newspaper in Shanghai. That newspaper said any disobedience to the Party's orders has to be in its words absolutely prohibited. Some indication of how authority the party has in some areas of the country has been reduced was disclosed in a speech by a

party official late last month broadcast on Tibet's television network. In the speech the official revealed the Communist Party in Tibet is having difficulties with tibetan party members because of their belief in Buddhism. The Party leader (Mr. Lu Huimin of the Party's Tibet Organization Department) says religious activities of members in some tibetan villages have serious disrupted the Party's operations. He says in some villages party members are actively engaged in spreading Buddhism and are using religion to split Tibet from China. He ordered that from now on no one will be allowed in the Party if they are religious. Some analysts who have been following this propaganda campaign say it may be related to the uncertainty surrounding the country's political future because of the declining health of mr. Deng. These analysts say after mr. Deng's death there may be a period when the leadership will face a challenge to their authority from within the party. They say the current campaign may be an attempt to r

educe the chances that any such challenge will be effective. (EuroTibet News nr.5)