Across China, Security Instead Of Celebration

A Three-Layer Barrier

At a checkpoint in Hebei province near Beijing's southern suburbs, more than 100 cars lined up Wednesday afternoon at the entrance to National Highway 107, awaiting a security check. The checkpoint was staffed by a dozen men in police and camouflage uniforms, several carrying weapons.

Drivers and their passengers were asked to produce identification while security agents searched underneath the cars and opened suitcases. Foreign passport holders were singled out for extra scrutiny, and their IDs were checked against what appeared to be a national database.

The checks were part of what officials have described as a three-layer security barrier around Beijing that was implemented Tuesday and that is scheduled to last through the Olympics, which run from Aug. 8 to 24. All vehicles entering the capital are subject to search at any of the hundreds of checkpoints constituting the three security rings, officials said.

At the Beijing airport -- which will close during the opening ceremony -- passengers also have been warned that, beginning July 20, they will be subject to a search at the entrance in addition to already meticulous security inspections between check-in counters and boarding gates.

Here in the Xinjiang region, the precautions are even more severe. Boarding a flight at the Urumqi airport Wednesday required six inspections between curbside and the airplane door.

Aside from 80,000 police officers and half a million neighborhood volunteers mobilized for the Olympic period in Beijing, officials announced, 100,000 anti-terrorism troops have been put on alert, and people's movements will be monitored by 300,000 surveillance cameras erected throughout the city.

The Defense Ministry said the soldiers have been ordered to guard against chemical attacks or assaults by hijacked aircraft in addition to bombings or kidnappings. Hongqi 7 air-to-ground missile batteries have been set up near the Olympic playing fields and warships have been assigned to cruise offshore while the Games are underway. The People's Liberation Army also plans to have unmanned drones in the air to increase surveillance, according to the official New China News Agency.

Security officials have displayed equal zeal in seeking to make peaceful but embarrassing protests impossible during the Games. Under the newly rigorous visa restrictions, Chinese consular officials abroad have been told to refuse entry to anyone who "may do things that are harmful to China."

Television networks that spent millions of dollars on broadcast rights are still negotiating the extent to which they will be able to do live shots from Tiananmen Square. The iconic esplanade in central Beijing was the site of the June 4, 1989, crackdown against pro-democracy protesters; it would be an ideal site for foreign or Chinese demonstrators seeking to take advantage of the world's attention during the Olympics.

At a negotiating session July 9 with the International Olympic Committee, Chinese officials said live broadcasts from Tiananmen would be allowed only from 6 to 10 a.m. and 9 to 11 p.m. Beijing time. Only correspondents would be allowed to speak, they said, not invited guests who could make political comments.

Separatist Group Targeted

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which mounted a number of fatal bombings in Xinjiang during the 1990s, has been designated a terrorist organization by the Chinese government. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration agreed, saying its leaders have links to al-Qaeda. But the group's exiled spokesmen repeatedly have denied the connection, saying they are only seeking independence for Uighurs, who speak a Turkic language and look more Central Asian than Chinese.

Authorities have moved aggressively against the group, which they have said presents the leading threat of terrorism during the Olympics.