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As the time for preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing draw to an end and the actual opening ceremony is just around the corner, Chinese authorities are struggling to get everything ready for the incredibly ambitiously planned Games. China's national face is at stake and nothing will be allowed to obstruct the successful unfolding of the world's biggest sporting event.
Two things have really caused Chinese officials to break sweat as of late: Continuously high pollution rates in the sky above the capital and the threat of terrorist attacks. The first one is being dealt with by further restrictions on traffic – there is now talk of a total ban of the use of private cars during the Olympics – and the forced temporary closures of even more of Beijing's industrial plants. Measures on a grand scale indeed, but not to be outdone by the preparations for preventing terrorism.
Besides tens of thousands of local police and security officers, Olympic security is to be guaranteed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) itself. No less than 34,000 PLA troops are currently being deployed in and around the Olympic venues, and they will be supported by 125 combat aircraft. The sailing events are to be kept safe by over 20 warships, and radars, anti-chemical warfare systems and surface-to-air missile batteries have been positioned in strategic locations.
"China's military is fully capable of crushing any attempts at terrorism during the Games", a Colonel Tian Yixiang told the Xinhua news agency on August 1. China's primary concern is the possible activities of Muslim separatists from the country's westernmost Xinjiang province – 16 police officers were killed in a grenade attack on a border post as recently as August 4 – but groups fighting for Tibetan independence, as well as members of the outlawed Falungong religious movement, also cause pre-Olympic concern among Chinese officials.
Full story in Danish
News category: China
Published on this site: Aug. 4, 2008
Source:kristeligt-dagblad.dk
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