Guards with machine guns began patrolling the Beijing airport as the city tightens security for the Olympics, news reports said yesterday.,p.
Also this weekend, police will start checking Beijing subway passengers for guns and explosives, the reports said.
The measures reflect the fears of Chinese leaders, who worry the Olympics might be tarnished by security threats. They also hope to stop activists who want to use the August games to air grievances against the communist government.
At the airport, two-member teams of guards with machine guns began work on Thursday and will patrol all three terminals through the end of the Olympics, the Xinhua news agency and newspapers reported.
Chinese police usually are unarmed, while some airport guards carry pistols.
“I think they look cool, and you rarely get to see such big guns,” the China Daily newspaper quoted a female traveler at the airport as saying.
On subways, police with dogs will start checking passengers for guns, knives, explosives and flammable, poisonous or radioactive material today, Xinhua said.
The checks are to last through the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Olympics and the Sept. 6 to Sept. 17 Paralympics, the agency said.
The security campaign will be carried out until Sept. 20.
“The measures are taken to maintain the public order and ensure a smooth Olympics,” a spokesman of Beijing’s Mass Transit Railway Operation said.
In addition to police and sniffer dogs, the company has trained about 3,000 extra personnel for the security checks, he said.
China’s post office has suspended carrying parcels containing chemicals or liquids through Oct. 31.
Police said earlier passengers will have to drink bottled water and other beverages they carry onto the subway to prove the substances are harmless.
China has embarked on a wide-ranging security crackdown ahead of the Games, and has even deployed surface-to-air missile batteries near Beijing Olympic venues in an apparent defense against airborne terror attacks.
It has warned that it faces the threat of terror attacks on the Olympics, particularly from “separatists” in its Xinjiang region, which is predominantly Muslim.
Critics have accused Beijing of exaggerating or fabricating the terror threat to provide an excuse to crack down on any dissent that could embarrass China during its time in the Olympic spotlight.
But the US, Britain and Interpol have all issued travel warnings, saying the Games are a potential target for attack.
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