Beijing - China's Communist Party urged cadres yesterday to quit a banned quasireligious sect and voiced alarm that some party members were "the backbone" of the group.
The People's Daily, in a front-page commentary, said the party was alarmed that a small group of its members were deeply involved in the Falungong sect, whose ability to stage big rallies in and outside the capital has unnerved China's rulers.
The party newspaper did not give a figure or identify cadres involved in Falungong, but said party members should "draw an ideological line" and observe party discipline.