An Armed Police official calls his anti-terrorism plan for the
2008 Olympics a 'people's war'.
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Wang Guanghai, senior colonel with China's para-military troops,
borrowed the wartime concept used by Mao Zedong in 1938 to
illustrate his point.
According to Wang, average Chinese citizens, who are more
inclined to follow governmental requests than westerners, should
play an important role in Beijing's anti-terrorism measures.
"'People's war' is a vivid description, " Wang explained.
"Terrorists normally hide themselves among people. Therefore, if
citizens are mobilized, terrorists would find nowhere to
escape."
"There were many burglaries in a city in North China. Then the
local government organized the city's taxi drivers, and equipping
their taxis with communications devices, so it would be easier for
them to call the police if they saw anything suspicious. Before
long, the city became a model for others to follow."
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Besides the people's involvement, Wang also stressed the role of
prevention in the anti-terrorism process.
"No matter how seamless your measures have been, once the
gunshot or blast is heard, you lose to a great extent," Wang said."
Preventing terrorism does not depend on handling incidents, but on
pro-active prevention."
(China Daily January 6, 2007)