Beijing Olympics 2008

China is one of the safest places in the world, said Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Wednesday morning at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.

“If you don’t believe it, you can ask your ambassador in China, or any ambassadors from western countries. Do they feel safer in China or elsewhere?” Yang said when answering a question raised by a British journalist.
The question came following reports about a foiled attack on a passenger plane of the China Southern Airlines on March 7.

Some passengers were caught carrying “suspicious liquid” on board the CZ6901flight, destined to Beijing from Urumqi, capital of the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The suspects were controlled by air police and the plane landed at an airport in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. The flight arrived in Beijing with all the passengers and crew members safe and sound the next morning.

Yang told reporters that investigation into the aborted attack is underway and he reassured that China is safe, and people who want to watch the Olympic Games in Beijing should be carefree.

More and more tourists are coming to China every year, and it is reportedly not easy to reserve a hotel room in Beijing during the coming Olympic Games, though they will be more expensive during the Games, Yang said.

“So I think people believe Beijing is a safe place,” he said.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Air passengers will be guaranteed safety during the upcoming Beijing Olympics, a senior civil aviation official said Monday.
Li Jiaxiang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), was speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing NPC session in reference to the foiled attempt on Friday to crash a passenger jet bound for Beijing.
“China’s civil aviation industry adopts very tight security measures, which in recent years have been among the best in the world,” Li said.
“We have the capability to guarantee the safety of airline passengers.”
A China Southern Airlines flight that took off from Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was forced to make an emergency landing on Friday at Lanzhou, capital of neighboring Gansu province, because “some people were attempting to create an air disaster“, Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, said on Sunday.
The Southern Metropolis News quoted an unnamed source yesterday as saying at least two people, including an 18- or 19-year-old girl, were involved in the attempt.
An air hostess smelled a faint odor of gasoline and traced it to the girl, who was put under restraint, the paper said. The suspect was trying to ignite the fuel to cause an explosion in the airplane, the newspaper quoted a CAAC circular as saying.
The paper also said loopholes in the safety procedures at Xinjiang airport were to blame.
Although declining to comment on the accusation, Li, the former head of Air China, the nation’s largest airline company, said “measures will be taken to strengthen the safety of air transportation” for the upcoming Beijing Games.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

The terrorists killed earlier this year in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region had planned an attack targeting the Beijing Olympic Games, a senior Chinese official said here on Sunday.
Chinese police smashed a terrorist gang in January in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, killing two and arresting 15 others. Knives, axes and books about terrorism were seized.

“Obviously, the gang had planned an attack targeting the Olympics,” said Wang Lequan, chief of the Xinjiang autonomous regional committee of the Communist Party of China on the sidelines of the national parliamentary session.

The group was said to have collaborated with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a group the United Nations labeled a terrorist organization in 2002.

“The Olympic Games slated for this August is a big event, but there are always a few people who conspire sabotages. It is no longer a secret now,” said Wang.

“Those terrorists, saboteurs and secessionists are to be battered resolutely, no matter what ethnic group they are from,” said the official.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

Qingdao City in east China is “full of confidence” in hosting a successful sailing competition of the 29th Olympic Games in August, Mayor Xia Geng said Sunday.
The seaside city in Shandong Province has prepared first-class venues, tight security measures, and rapid and convenient transport for the Aug. 9-23 event, the mayor said.
Xia also dismissed worries about food safety.
“We have launched a special project to ensure Olympic food safety since 2004,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament.
“No problem has been found about food safety during two Olympic test events held here in 2006 and 2007,” he said.
Qingdao, with clean air and beautiful scenery, is expected to attract 200,000 visitors when the sailing event is held.

from: xinhuanet.com 

Interpol hasn’t seen any intelligence that suggests a specific terrorist threat to the Beijing Olympics, but organizers should not let their guard down, the head of the international police organization said Wednesday.
Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble, speaking at a security conference in Hong Kong, said he was satisfied with the security measures being put in place for the Games, but officials should still be on the lookout for threats.
“I think prudence requires to recognize that it could be (a terrorist target),” he said.
China has called for closer international cooperation to prevent possible attacks, and has sought advice on Olympic security from the United States, Germany, Israel and other foreign governments.
FBI head Robert Mueller said during a visit earlier this year that China’s security preparations for the Olympics were impressive and that his agency was lending its expertise on fending off possible terrorist attacks.
China has also boosted anti-terrorism training for its military, with troops focusing on biochemical and nuclear threats and emergency rescue operations.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

Restaurants, bars and nightclubs in one of Beijing’s main nightlife centers and celebrity hangouts are to be closed to help ensure security at an Olympic football venue, said authorities.
“About six restaurants and bars inside the Beijing Workers’ Stadium compound will be ordered to suspend operation for more than 20 days before and during the Olympic Games,” said He Zhenxing, stadium vice manager.
The venues, popular among Beijing residents, would suffer lost business, but the order was issued to guarantee security for the Games, he said.
“The stadium will not pay compensation to them, but may extend their leases or give preferential treatment after the Olympic Games,” he said.
Managers of the establishment said they had not received formal notification from the government, but said they would accept the order, although they felt “very unhappy” about it.
Most of the venues are still open, but some are carrying out renovations.
“More than 130 employees in my restaurant will be out of work during the suspension. If they don’t return after the Games, I will have to hire new hands and start over again,” said Zhang Youjing, manager of Youjingge Restaurant.
Zhang said his 700-square-meter restaurant had hosted celebrities, including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Jacky Chan, and took 20 million yuan (2.7 million U.S. Dollars) in sales in 2004 when it opened.
“I really don’t know what it will look like after the Games,” he said, “I’m not a threat to the Olympic Games and I cannot resist the official order by any means. I only wish myself good luck,” he said.
The manager of Club Mix nightclub, surnamed Guo, said he would have no choice, but to obey the order. “We have almost 800 customers every night. More than 200 workers will stay at home on a minimum salaries during the closure.”
“The club was closed for two months when the stadium was being renovated last year, and every worker here earned 600 yuan a month while staying at home. All of them returned,” Guo said.
“The suspension during the Olympics would definitely hurt our profits, but I believe we can withstand that cost,” said Guo.
An Outback Steakhouse restaurant is still open and the chain manager said he was not much worried about the suspension. “Dozens of colleagues and I will sit it out and I guess our salaries will not drop sharply,” he said, without giving his name.
“If we need to pay a reasonable price for the Beijing Olympics, we are willing to do so,” he said.
Almost a dozen sports shops under the stands have been closed and moved out of the stadium since 2006 when the venue started renovation.
“At first, I planned to sue the stadium because the profits dropped sharply during the renovation, but I gave up after my lawyer’s mediation,” said Wang Zhongdong, manager of a shop selling golf equipment. “For a successful Olympics, I’m prepared to make a contribution.”
The stadium, which held the 2004 Asia Cup and four national games, will stage football during the Beijing Olympics. It covers 80,000 square meters with a holding capacity of 62,000 audiences.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security promised to make security for the Olympics a priority in its work for 2008.
At a mobilization meeting on Saturday, the leading officials of the city stressed the importance of bringing the bureau’s whole capabilities into play, strictly controlling the situation of public security and strengthening anti-terrorism and anti-riot tasks.
They urged an active organization of comprehensive combat drills and exercises; improvement of the logistics and command systems; maximum deployment of police forces; enhancement of grass-roots prevention and control networks; boosting of sense of security among the public; and maintenance of coercion over crimes.
Bureau director Ma Zhenchuan signed a letter of responsibility with the representatives of its various competent agencies.
Wang Anshun, vice secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China in charge of political and legal affairs attended and addressed the meeting.
Present at the meeting were also Liu Jing, vice minister of Public Security and chief of the Beijing Olympic Security Coordination Group; Meng Hongwei, vice minister of Public Security.

from: beijing2008.cn 

Beijing has attached great importance to upgrading food safety citywide as a precondition to ensuring food safety for the upcoming Olympics, an official said on Thursday.
Since 2005, the city has engaged in an all-around effort to improve food safety, with guidelines already formulated, said Tang Yunhua, a spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Office for Food Safety.
The city has stressed food safety supervision and management; media supervision and the participation of consumers in the process; and the set-up of a monitoring network, she told the journalists attending a press conference at the Beijing Olympic Media Center.
Beijing has conducted dynamic monitoring for various pollutants that threaten food safety and food-related diseases. Based on the findings, Beijing has established a risk assessment and warning system and improved the food safety credit system, the system of information gathering, assessment and publication, as well as the system of encouragement and punishment.
In a word, efficient monitoring has covered the whole process of food production, reproduction, logistics and consumption, in addition to a food safety retrieval system, Tang added.
At present, the monitoring network covers over 60,000 varieties of foods using six functional modes, including day-to-day monitoring; market control; information release; monitoring information; statistics analysis and geographical information. It can automatically generate statistical charts and report forms showing the general situation of food safety citywide, producers and distributors, as well as an analysis of demand-supply relations of the food market. The system can also make real-time statistics and analysis of the supply amount and prices of farm and sideline products in Beijing.

from: beijing2008.cn 

Chinese troops are to step up anti-terrorism training to ensure the security of Beijing’s Olympic Games in August, a senior military officer has said.
“This year poses a challenging test. We have scheduled massive training programs before the Olympics to better prepare against any possible threat,” an officer from the General Staff Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was quoted as saying.
The officer, who refused to be identified, said the troops participating in Olympics security were focusing on biochemical and nuclear threats, as well as emergency rescue operations.
He said the PLA on Friday completed safety inspections of the Water Cube, the flagship Olympic venue for water events, in advance of the 16th FINA Diving World Cup, which will take place from February 19 to 24.
In June last year, the PLA established a security unit, consisting of army, navy and air force personnel, for the Games.
The army is responsible for air protection of all venues, and maritime safety of coastal venues, and will mainly deal with non-traditional threats during the Games, particularly biochemical and nuclear terror attacks.
It will also help the police and armed police forces prevent and deal with terror attacks as well as rescue operations in disaster or accident situations.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

Beijing, host city of the upcoming summer Olympics, will have special teams to conduct daily safety checks of its huge water network.
“The team will consist of more than 300 patrol staff and 400 maintenance workers doing round-the-clock checks and maintenance of the water pipelines and ground water systems,” said Yu Yaping, an official with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Water Affairs.
Yu said that regular inspections would officially start in May.
“The Games will be held in August, which is the annual flood season in Beijing. The routine checks will cover sound drainage of rain water, especially in the sports venues,” said Yu.
There are also many large “waterscapes” built to beautify the city for the big event, and the bureau will also be responsible for detecting groundwater pollution.
Water safety is a key factor in guaranteeing success in hosting the world event.
The capital, which has ongoing water supply problems, has prepared to guarantee sufficient water for the Olympics. Water diverted through the country’s south-north diversion project will reach Beijing by March.
Beijing’s neighboring province, Hebei, will contribute its reservoir water to back up the national capital’s supply.

from: xinhuanet.com