Special
report: 2008 Olympic Games
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The public has been
recently reminded again that they are not allowed to take long umbrellas as well
as soft drinks, lighters and liquids into the Olympic stadiums during the Games.
An official of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public
Security said some people might not pay attention to those daily items which
listed on tickets along with other illegal items, such as explosives.
According to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the
2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), security staff won't keep the banned daily items for
the audience during the Games as they did in the "Good Luck Beijing" test
events.
As long as there is a security risk, security
personnel get to remove it.
After series of national-level anti-terrorist drills
held in Beijing and other co-host cities including Shanghai, Tianjin,
Qinhuangdao, Shenyang and Qingdao, the security work has also been extended to
more detailed aspects.
Like the long umbrellas, people's handbags became new
target for security checks.
Beijing subway passengers were subjected to new
security checks on June 29 at the start of a three-month campaign to ensure a
safe Olympic Games and Paralympics.
More than 3,000 inspectors at 93 metro stations began
searches for dangerous articles, including guns, ammunition, knives, explosives,
flammable and radioactive materials, and toxic chemicals.
Large items of luggage would be checked by X-ray
machines, while smaller bags would be randomly checked. More than 30 dogs were
also to be used for random inspections, and another 30 were being trained,
according to Jia Peng, a spokesman of the Beijing subway system.
Liquids would also be checked, unless the passenger
takes a drink in front of inspectors.
Beijing has five subway lines in operation with 140
kilometers of track, transporting millions of passengers every day.
More than 90 dangerous items were stopped from
getting into the capital's subways and more than 50 passengers were turned away
on the first day of compulsory security checks.
The government has enacted a slew of measures this
year to ensure aviation safety ahead of the Olympics, banning lighters and
matches from carry-on luggage and telling passengers to remove their shoes for
security checks.
From May 1, the Civil Aviation Administration stepped
up pre-flight data reporting for passengers and crews on international flights
and limited the number of cabin baggage articles.
Airlines are prohibited from carrying explosives for
civil use, guns and ammunition to the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin,
Shenyang, Qinhuangdao and Qingdao from July 1 to Sep. 30, according to the
administration.
Flights carrying high-risk chemicals, such as
poisonous gas and radioactive substances, to other cities must be inspected and
authorized by the administration. Those with dangerous goods that are urgently
needed by the state or in disaster relief work must go through the same process
and be recorded.
Beijing now has a 150,000-strong security guard
contingent plus 290,000 volunteers doing patrols.
During the event, security guards who are directly
assigned to the Games would number at least 80,000, according to Ma Zhenchuan,
director of the Olympic security command.
The security around the Tian'anmen Square in the
heart of the national capital has been tightened as a set of revised rules allow
unannounced searches of people and vehicles by police for banned items in the
vast square, a political symbol as well as a popular tourist destination in the
country.
Meanwhile, service stations for migrant workers have
been set up, covering more than 7,000 communities and villages in Beijing, to
strengthen management of migrant population in the city and to lower public
security risks.
Security concerns have also been applied to
foreigners. The BOCOG posted a legal guide for foreigners on its official
website in June.
It prohibits overseas visitors from taking
ammunition, explosives, counterfeit currency notes, narcotics and poisons, among
others, into China, warns overseas visitors against shouting insulting slogans
or displaying them on banners, and forbids the display of religious, political
or racial banners at sports venues.
"Security work is the basis and key to a successful
Olympics...and it has come to a critical point as the Games approach," said
China's top security official Zhou Yongkang, also a member of the Standing
Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political
Bureau, on an inspection tour of the safety work for the Olympics.
Beijing starts passenger security
checks in all subway stations
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A passenger (2nd L) receives security check at the Dongzhimen Subway Station in downtown Beijing, China, June 29, 2008. Beijing subway passengers will face security check at all stations from June 29 to Sept. 20. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Beijing subway passengers
were subjected to new security checks on Sunday at the start of a three-month
campaign to ensure a safe Olympic Games and Paralympics.
More than 3,000 inspectors at 93 metro stations began
searches for dangerous articles, including guns, ammunition, knives, explosives,
flammable and radioactive materials, and toxic chemicals, said Jia Peng a
spokesman for Beijing Subway Operation Company. Full story
China suspends liquid parcel mailing
for Olympic security
BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China's postal
service suspended mailing liquid parcels, mails containing liquid and a few
other materials from June 1 to Oct. 31.
The ban was part of the efforts to tighten security
ahead of and during the Beijing Olympic Games, said a spokesman of the State
Post Bureau. Full story
