Museums told to step up security

BEIJING - Police and cultural authorities have ordered museums to tighten security, following three thefts this year.

The crimes include a May raid at the Palace Museum in China's capital, in which several exhibited items on loan from a Hong Kong museum were stolen.

"People who have been lured by the high profits attained through the theft and smuggling of ancient relics tend to set their sights on museums," according to a circular jointly released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Public Security and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.