Tibet authorities will strengthen the discipline of Party officials who hesitate to fight separatists - and who even collude with them - a senior official from the Tibet Autonomous Region discipline inspection commission said on Tuesday.

Tibet is regarded as a major battlefield in the fight against separatists loyal to the Dalai Lama.

Stricter Party rules will play an essential role in eliminating the problem, Wang Yongjun, director of the commission, said.

"Party officials should make the adherence to political discipline and Party rules their top priorities in regulating themselves," he said.

"To maintain Tibet's safety and stability, we will vigorously investigate those who break the rules and collude with the Dalai Lama's separatists."

In recent years, a number of Party and governmental officials in Tibet allegedly joined separatist organizations, provided intelligence to the Dalai Lama's separatist group or colluded with separatists to split the country.

Figures provided by the commission show that 15 officials in Tibet were punished last year for "serious violations of Party rules".

"Some of the 15 investigated are suspected of participating in underground Tibetan separatist organizations, offering intelligence information or funding activities that endanger national security," said Wang Gang, secretary-general of the commission.

No details about the investigations were disclosed.

At the end of January, the commission issued a notice requiring officials in Tibet to strictly adhere to political discipline and Party rules.

The notice said that disciplinary authorities will "seriously investigate Party officials who hold religious faith, collude with Dalai Lama separatists to split the country, undermine national unity, participate in illegal activities of organizations or spread reactionary remarks".

Since November 2012, when the country's new leadership took office, China has conducted a sweeping drive to combat corruption.

The top anti-graft watchdog sent inspection teams to key regions, to central-government bodies and administrations and to State-owned enterprises to uncover graft by officials.

Between July and September, inspectors were sent to Tibet to conduct a special inspection focusing on corrupt Party officials.

"Through the inspection, we found that some officials do not have a firm political stance to fight Tibetan separatists, and we are still facing a tough task in maintaining the stability of the region," said Ye Dongsong, director of the inspection team.

Wang, the director of the Tibet inspection commission, said the commission will cover inspections of Party and governmental officials, including local Party chiefs, while senior governmental officials should bear the responsibility to supervise lower-level officials.

Editor:Karen Lin