Security measures are in full swing to ensure a safe and peaceful Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, officials said yesterday.

 

Among them are regulations to be released next year, which will spell out requirements on traffic control, behavior at venues and what to do in the case of an emergency.

 

"The temporary regulations will only apply to Beijing during the Games," said Lu Shimin, deputy chief of the Beijing Public Security Bureau. "It is something that we will focus on next year, and currently we are collecting views from home and abroad."

 

Lu, also head of the security department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) also disclosed a plan to build a security headquarters, which will include a traffic control center, two fire fighting stations and a police bureau. Construction of these facilities will begin in April and be completed by the end of 2007.

 

Next year, a new security system that will categorize all Olympic venues into A, B, C and D, based on the number of spectators and the nature of the event, will be implemented and tested. It aims to ensure that ample security personnel and measures are deployed.

 

Police forces will be assigned one of three different tasks to deal with different situations.

 

As for each venue, its surroundings will be taken into account when drafting security plans.

 

"We'll test the system next year in big sporting events such as the China Open and Beijing 2006 World Junior Championships," said Lu.

 

To prevent terrorist attacks, a special-forces team of 150-personnel has been set up for the Games. This team may be expanded next year.

 

Bureau chief Ma Zhenchuan said that international cooperation is key to a safe and peaceful Olympics.

 

"We have no experience in holding such large scale events, so it is essential that we learn from the experiences of other countries which have hosted such events," he said.

 

An international symposium on Olympic security is planned for next year, and dozens of experts from host countries of the event will attend.

 

So far more than 50 security experts from home and abroad have been employed as consultants to advise on security at the Beijing Games.

 

Meanwhile, the construction of three competition venues for the Beijing 2008 Games started yesterday.

 

The three new venues are the beach volleyball grounds in eastern Beijing's Chaoyang Park and the archery fields and hockey pitches, both located inside the "Olympic Green" which contains the National Stadium and the National Aquatics Center.

 

The hockey venue will contain two pitches and will be able hold 17,000 spectators. The archery field occupies 9.22 hectares with a seating capacity of 5,000. The beach volleyball grounds will allow for 12,000 spectators.

 

The three projects are only temporary sites and will be removed after the Games.

 

The 2008 Games requires a total of nine temporary venues.

 

(China Daily December 29, 2005)