5/12/14, "Beijing deploys armed anti-terror units after attacks," UK Telegraph, Tom Phillips in Shanghai
"In the wake of a spate of vicious attacks on civilians, new mobile anti-terror units are tasked with cracking down on ‘terrorists, mass violence and gun crimes’"
"Beijing has reacted to a spate of deadly attacks on civilians by deploying 150 armed response units “to fight terrorism and maintain stability” in the Chinese capital, state media announced on Monday.
The 13-man units are intended to counter “street terrorism” and “severe
violence,” Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said.
Their main focus will be incidents “involving guns, bombs as well as mass violence or terrorism,” Xinhua added. Security is currently being tightened in cities across China in response to a recent wave of attacks, which have claimed dozens of lives.
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Already this year there have been three separate attacks on Chinese train
stations which state media say were carried out by “knife-wielding”
assailants. Beijing has blamed at least two of these attacks on religious
extremists from the western province of Xinjiang.
The Foreign Office updated its advice for UK citizens travelling to China last week after a knife attack at a train station in the southern megacity of Guangzhou.
“Be vigilant and take extra care when transiting public transport hubs,” the new advice says. Security has also been visibly increased in Shanghai, where 1,000 armed police officers were deployed in “densely populated areas, such as urban centers and transport hubs” on April 20, according to Xinhua.
Uniformed police officers have been ordered to start patrolling religious venues in Shanghai, The Telegraph understands.
Calls to the propaganda office of Shanghai’s Public Security Bureau went unanswered on Monday afternoon....
Li Juan, an anti-terrorism expert from the Xinjiang Police College, told the China Daily high profile troop deployments needed to become “regular and permanent features of public safety, not merely a short-term campaign”....
Monday’s deployment of armed units also comes just ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, an event that has left Beijing jittery.
The Foreign Office updated its advice for UK citizens travelling to China last week after a knife attack at a train station in the southern megacity of Guangzhou.
“Be vigilant and take extra care when transiting public transport hubs,” the new advice says. Security has also been visibly increased in Shanghai, where 1,000 armed police officers were deployed in “densely populated areas, such as urban centers and transport hubs” on April 20, according to Xinhua.
Uniformed police officers have been ordered to start patrolling religious venues in Shanghai, The Telegraph understands.
Calls to the propaganda office of Shanghai’s Public Security Bureau went unanswered on Monday afternoon....
Li Juan, an anti-terrorism expert from the Xinjiang Police College, told the China Daily high profile troop deployments needed to become “regular and permanent features of public safety, not merely a short-term campaign”....
Monday’s deployment of armed units also comes just ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, an event that has left Beijing jittery.
Pu Zhiqiang, one of China’s most respected human rights lawyers, was arrested last week on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” after taking part in a seminar about the deadly military crackdown. Activists believe the Communist Party is attempting to silence Mr Pu and other dissidents before the anniversary.
Drawing attention to "the June 4th incident...clearly crossed the red line of law,” the state-run Global Times newspaper argued last week, without explaining why."
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5/12/14, "China police fan out across capital to "counter street terrorism"," Reuters
"Beijing police sent out 150 armed patrol vehicles into the city on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, "countering street terrorism and fighting severe violence".
China has grown increasingly nervous about domestic unrest and Islamist militants since a car burst into flames on the edge of Beijing's Tiananmen Square in October. In March, 29 people were stabbed to death at a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming.
The patrol vehicles, which will be stationed at crowded intersections on main thoroughfares, will specifically guard against incidents involving guns, bombs and mass violence, Xinhua added.
Beijing will also require buyers of gasoline in bulk to register their names and intended use of the fuel, the official People's Daily reported on Monday.
Those seeking to buy gasoline must first register at their local police station to "prevent law-breakers from using gasoline to create disturbances", the paper reported.
Exile groups and rights activists say China's heavy-handed policies in the restive western region of Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, have sowed the seeds of unrest.
Xinjiang, resource-rich and strategically located on the borders of central Asia, has been plagued by violence for years, blamed by the government on Islamist militants and separatists.
Police last week shot dead an assailant who attacked a police vehicle with knives in Xinjiang."
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