An Armed Police official calls his anti-terrorism plan for the 2008 Olympics
a 'people's war'.
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."
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."
