Beijing: China has mounted an extraordinary set of attacks against Communist Party members in the troubled western regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, with accusations of disloyalty, secret participation in religious activity, sympathy with the Dalai Lama and even support for terrorism.

The accusations reflect a hardening of the party's stance in Buddhist Tibet and in Muslim-majority Xinjiang, experts said, as well as President Xi Jinping's determination to push for ideological purity within the party nationwide, quashing debate and dissent.

Children leave school under armed guard in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. Credit:Chris Zappone

But critics say they also reflect the fact that the party's hard-line approach toward crushing "the three evils of separatism, terrorism and religious extremism" in both regions has not only alienated many ordinary ethnic Tibetan and Uighur people but has also provoked significant disquiet in its own ranks.

An article published Friday on China Tibet Online, a party website, said 355 party members had been punished in Xinjiang last year for violating "political discipline".