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BEIJING: China vowed to step up security for the Beijing Olympics,
warning of an unprecedented threat to the Games amid reports that
two “terrorists” were executed in the mainly Muslim far
northwest.
With up to 80 heads of state expected to attend
the August 8 opening ceremony, China on Sunday said it was faced
with a “huge responsibility” to defend its own people, Olympic
athletes and visiting dignitaries.
Rioting and looting in Tibet this year and
recent police battles with “terrorist groups” in far northwest
Xinjiang region were evidence of real threats to sabotage the Games,
the leading People’s Daily said in an editorial.
“As far as China is concerned, the
international situation and the political environment is becoming
increasingly complicated by the day, and the dark clouds of
terrorism on our borders are a fact that cannot be ignored,” it
added.
“Up until the present, we know there will be
80 heads of state attending the Beijing Olympics opening
ceremony—as the host nation, we are faced with unprecedented
pressure and a
huge responsibility.”
The commentary defended massive security efforts
that have resulted in a missile battery being placed outside the
main Olympic Stadium, as well as a raft of new regulations
restricting the movement of people and goods.
It also derided Western press reports that have
expressed fears that the stringent security measures would result in
a “cold and cheerless Olympics.”
“These incidents [in Tibet and Xinjiang] show
. . . that the Beijing Olympics is facing a terrorist threat
unsurpassed in Olympic history,” the People’s Daily said.
The paper said the threat had become more real,
“especially as the peaceful protests of anti-China forces like
those linked to ‘democracy movements’ outside the nation become
violent attacks by Tibetan and Xinjiang separatists.”
Ongoing crackdowns in Tibet and Xinjiang have
been motivated by Olympic security concerns, the government has
said.
According to US-based Radio Free Asia, two
ethnic minority Uighur Muslims convicted of terrorist and separatist
activities were executed last week in Xinjiang. Fifteen others were
jailed for similar crimes.
China announced last week that 82 “suspected
terrorists” had been detained there this year for allegedly
plotting to sabotage the Olympics.
State press also said last week that police had
shot dead five knife-wielding Muslims and detained 10 others in
Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, who allegedly wanted to launch a
“holy war.”
The People’s Daily said that when China was
awarded the right to host the Games in 2001, its No. 1 commitment to
the International Olympic Committee was that it would maintain
security.
“In order to fulfill this commitment, China
has built the most strict prevention and control system in Olympic
history, adopting a series of security measures rarely seen,” it
added.
Such measures include security checks on roads,
at airports and in train and subway stations, as well as stricter
controls at borders, including tough new visa application
requirements, the People’s Daily said.
Authorities in Hebei province, which surrounds
Beijing, announced on Saturday that checkpoints would be set up on
all roads leading into the capital from July 20.
“Our province must strike hard and our police
must firmly attack the evil forces and wipe out those who seek to
dominate and endanger others,” the Hebei government said in a
statement on its website.
“We must prevent any person with ulterior
motives from entering Beijing and we must prevent any dangerous or
illegal materials from entering Beijing.”
Also on Saturday, the government unveiled its
new special armored rapid-response team that includes 39 new
bulletproof vehicles that will patrol the capital during the Games.
-- AFP
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