China Touts Terrorism Preparedness for Olympics

China said yesterday it is ready to deal with acts of bioterrorism or other potential threats to the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing, the McClatchy-Tribune News Service reported (see GSN, May 27).

“We have already made full preparations,” said Jin Dapeng, the games’ medical security chief.

Those preparations have included training teams of medical personnel to deal with radiological and biological weapons and equipping them to test for 10 toxins, Jin said.

There have been no public indications that authorities have identified an existing threat to the event, which is expected to draw 500,000 foreign spectators.  Nonetheless, ramped-up security is expected to include 94,000 police officers, thousands of security cameras around Beijing, metal detectors at subway stations, and removal of stall doors from public toilets near Olympic sites.

“Prevention is the most important thing,” Jin said.  “We’ve got all the pre-plans in place.  These plans involve all kinds of agencies and departments in addition to the Health Department.

The games are scheduled for Aug. 8-24.

The lead security official for the Beijing games, Tian Yixiang, reportedly said earlier this month that Muslim radicals, Tibetan separatists and Falun Gong members would pose the greatest threat to the event.

They “may try to disrupt and sabotage the smooth holding of the Olympic Games by various means or even by some extreme means of violence,” Tian told state media.  Critics have questioned the threat facing the games, saying authorities are using the potential for terrorism to crack down on dissident organizations (Tim Johnson, McClatchy-Tribune News Service/Yahoo!News, May 28).

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