China will rely on its own security forces to defend the country's borders and airspace at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Athens organizers were given support by NATO surveillance planes in 2004 at the first Summer Games since the September 2001 attacks against the United States.

Yu Zaiqing, vice-president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said China would not seek outside assistance.

"With Greece there was a lot of coastline so it was very difficult to keep it secure," Yu told a news conference in Tokyo.

"Asking for NATO to help was necessary, but with Beijing we think that China's security forces will be fully capable of keeping the Games safe."

Yu was less forthright on the sensitive subject of Taiwan being included in the 2008 Olympic torch relay.

"We'll look into the matter with the International Olympic Committee and then hope to come to a decision by the end of this year," he said.

Chinese officials are keen to have a stopover in Taiwan, a territory it considers a rebel province.