As of Monday, Peking University will put a new policy in place to keep unauthorized people from entering classrooms and other facilities and disrupting lectures.

Under the new policy, the university requires people to show their identification cards before entering some of the campus buildings. People without university IDs will be denied entrance to campus lecture halls.

However, the new security measure has prompted heated discussions about the university's spirit of openness among the public.

An unnamed university official told the Beijing News that the decision was made to prevent outside troublemakers from entering lecture halls and disrupting classes.

He noted that the policy is not a rigid measure and does not mean that the university is closing its door to other learners. "People from outside still have opportunity to sit in our classes, as long as they arrive at the teaching building ahead of the class."

But he pointed out that a large number of students from other universities or non-students, who arrive late for classes, had interrupted lectures.

The university official says they enacted the policy because some Olympic test events will take place there next month. The university, which will celebrate its 110th anniversary next year, will house some venues for Beijing Summer Olympics next August.

(CRI November 5, 2007)