Beijing’s Paramilitary Olympics: 10,500 Athletes - 94,000 Security
April 13, 2008 | 11:16 pm | by t-blender |Rate It:
the independent: What used to be called the Olympics are likely this summer to become the Paramilitary Games. China is planning to deploy more than 94,000 security personnel at the Beijing celebration in August, which means that uniformed and plain-clothes operatives will outnumber the 10,500 athletes by nearly nine to one.
Leading what will be the biggest security effort the world has ever seen is the People’s Armed Police, a 660,000-strong militia force, which has been involved in the crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators in Lhasa. The PAP is also believed to have provided the squads of blue and white tracksuited paramilitaries who formed the controversial phalanx of guards for the Olympic torch as it made its chaotic way across London, Paris and San Francisco last week. On Thursday, the People’s Armed Police News reported that the PAP force was told to prevent any security threats that could upset the Games. The paper issued a “political mobilisation order” to PAP troops telling them to prepare for an arduous time ensuring order and control before and during the Games.
Beijing is worried that activists from abroad, who have disrupted the journey of the Olympic torch relay, will also stage protests inside China over Tibet, Darfur, human rights and other issues before and during the Games. As a result, security experts forecast that the PAP’s ranks will swell further. There has already been high-profile shows of strength by the militia in Beijing, public display exercises to show its carefully honed organisation.
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