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Police pull out all the stops for Asiad

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-29 07:55

Police prepare to enter a hijacked bus in an anti-terrorist exercise on Thursday in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. As Guangxi is a neighboring region of Guangdong province, the drill was held to help ensure the safety of the upcoming Asian Games. [Photo/China Daily]

Guangzhou - Security forces in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are leaving nothing to chance to ensure the safety of the thousands of competitors and spectators attending the Asian Games.

Beginning on Thursday and continuing for the next two months, subway passengers in Guangzhou must undergo the city's most stringent security checks, including manual checks, X-rays and police dogs.

Police have carried out counter-terrorist drills, stepped up security checkpoints in and around the city and cracked down on the possession of arms ahead of the 16-day event starting on Nov 12.

Authorities have yet to reveal the size of the security forces in place in Guangzhou, choosing to emphasize the importance of the task at hand.

"Security is our top concern and our top responsibility for the success of the Asian Games," Gu Shiyang, deputy secretary-general of the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, told AFP.

"We are fully aware of the threats from outside the country and also the risks within the city or within the territory. We have made great efforts to make our city safe and our games safe."

Nearly 12,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions will be competing in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, which sits in the Pearl River Delta, the hub of China's huge, export-oriented "workshop of the world".

Commenting on the logistics of the security operation for the games, senior Guangdong police official Zhang Zehui said: "Guangzhou has a very large economy. The huge flow of people, goods and capital has also led to a complex security situation in the province."

Cracking down on violent crime, including cross-border gun and drug trafficking with neighboring Hong Kong and Macao, will be a chief concern, police said.

"Guangzhou is close to Hong Kong and Macao and there is regular cross-border traffic, which results in an influx of firearms to Guangzhou," Zhang said. "It is a serious problem."

Police have set up a "security firewall" around Guangzhou, consisting of 132 checkpoints where police will examine people, vehicles and cargo entering the city, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Security checks will also be set up at subway, ferry, train and long-distance bus terminals throughout the city. Travelers who refuse to undergo security checks will be barred from the city and possibly fined, according to Xinhua.

Anyone who wants to buy kitchen knives or other large cutting tools will be required to visit designated shops and register with the police.

Shops, meanwhile, will be fitted with surveillance cameras and other security equipment, and merchants have been ordered not to sell knives to teenagers or anyone with a mental disability.

Police have also held special hostage rescue drills, including an exercise simulating the hijacking of a bus of athletes by armed gunmen in the Asian Games Town.

Fears over outbreaks of infectious diseases have prompted health authorities to step up surveillance and monitoring systems, according to media reports.