bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Clifford Coonan

439 days to go

When a man from Xinjiang threw a fiery ball at the portrait of Chairman Mao above the entrance to the Forbidden City  this month, the slightly damaged painting was quickly replaced. Security officials said the vandal was a 35-year-old migrant worker who had been diagnosed as mentally ill last year.

A day later, Beijing police confirmed one of their officers had been stabbed, again by a seemingly disturbed individual acting alone, in Tiananmen Square.

While serious, both incidents were relatively insignificant in terms of the overall preparations for the Olympics, and the reaction in both cases was swift and measured, but they also brought the issue of security straight back on to the agenda.

Ever since Beijing was granted the Olympic Games in 2001, there has been an automatic assumption security would be no problem for the Chinese authorities, who have an excellent record in keeping the streets safe and a lid on dissent.

There will be 94,000 security personnel at the Games in August next year, and security experts forecast that number will increase after this summer, when various procedures will be tested.

The incidents in Tiananmen Square highlight the balancing act the mainland government is forced into ahead of the Olympics. React in too severe a fashion, and China risks the ire of the international community. Appear too soft on the terrorist threat, and risk being labelled dangerously incompetent and unstable.

Over half a million foreign visitors are expected for the Olympics, and around two million Chinese, so the scope for an international incident is there. While mainland authorities have a formidable record in controlling mass protest, an individual acting alone is much more problematic.

'It's extremely difficult to prepare for one person,' said one western security consultant. 'You can have strategies to monitor groups, but you can't predict how individuals are going to behave. The reaction to the attack on the Mao painting was to seal off Tiananmen Square, but how do you do that if it happens during the Olympics?'

The September 11, 2001, attacks on US targets and President George W. Bush's 'War on Terror' have made security a top issue at all international gatherings, especially one with such a huge global audience.

Security analysts reckon Beijing is well prepared for dealing with a broader terrorist threat.

This month, policemen held an exercise at an army base in Beijing to signal the beginning of full-scale security training, and  more than 30 police units went through their paces guarding and patrolling facilities. Anti-terrorism troops will be given additional training to deal with emergencies and other terrorist-related issues. In the first four months of next year, the officers will train at the Olympic sites and run a number of test events.

However, handling media and public relations issues is likely to be a more difficult challenge.

'Compared to Athens, the guys here are on the ball. If someone is willing to do something crazy and take his own life in the process, there's little you can do about it,' said a private security consultant, who asked to remain anonymous. 'What you are going to see is the authorities mobilising every old lady in every hutong, who knows everyone on the block, to point out anything unusual.'

Things have moved on from the days when Ronald Reagan visited Beijing in 1984, and 50 Iranian students in the capital were taken from their beds in the middle of the night and forced to fly to Xi'an for a cultural tour, despite their protestations, after the State Department expressed concerns about their presence in Beijing.

Liu Shaowu, security head for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Bocog), said recently that Beijing would be able to stage the Olympics for a fraction of the HK$14 billion spent on the Athens Games in 2004.

'We will stick strictly to the policy of being frugal in holding the Olympic Games, and we are confident the safety of the Games will be ensured at a low cost,' said Liu.

This is largely because of the resources available to China. Around 20 government agencies, from the world's largest standing army - the two-million strong People's Liberation Army - to the fire service, will be involved in the security operation, supported by volunteers recruited from military and police academies.

'From our briefings with the organisers you can see they are not specific on organisations, but are more interested in the internal issues with foreign constituents, such as the Falun Gong, the Tibetans and the Xinjiang separatists,' said the consultant.

However, with the world's attention on Beijing, the question  is: how will the authorities react if a lone protester unfurls a pro-Tibetan independence banner?

'It's actually more of a media issue, image stuff - how do you handle it if Amnesty International decides to do something at the Olympics, how to manage the media perception,' the consultant said.

Also, the Olympic Games are the biggest international event in the world, which offers all kinds of publicity possibilities. Western diplomats say they feel the Chinese are concentrating too much on domestic threats from the Falun Gong, Tibetans and Xinjiang separatists. As one analyst put it, the Olympics are an international event and the terrorists will use them as a platform to send a message not to China, but the United States or Israel.

'That needs to be watched. Expect a lot of adjustments this summer after the venues have been tested,' said the consultant.

Communication is also likely to be a problem. 'At the Winter Games in Changchun, guards were waving foreigners through the gates, you had foreign journalists strolling into VIP areas and athletes' training rooms, because the guards couldn't communicate with them,' said a security expert.

Beijing's top Communist Party official Liu Qi said maintaining stability was key.

'Successfully hosting the 2008 Olympic Games is our main job,' said the Beijing secretary-general of the party. 'We must carry out all work, guaranteeing the success of the Games, and bringing the capital city to a new level of success.'

Defensive wall

China is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the Olympics are safe

The minimum number of security personnel on hand to nip any problems in the bud: 94,000



Beijing forced to walk  a security tightrope