More than 80 police officers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Chinese, Japanese and South Korean capitals attended a three-day event aiming to enhance exchanges and cooperation that opened in Beijing on Wednesday.

The Workshop on Policing Exchange and Cooperation among Capital Police Agencies included discussions on security during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

"The Olympic Games are a grand eye-catching event and Chinese police can cooperate with police from other countries for security during the games," said Han Jin-Hee, senior superintendent general of South Korea’s Seoul Metropolitan Police department.

Ma Zhenchuan, director of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, said Beijing police would strengthen and expand cooperation with the international community during the Games.

Tokyo and Beijing have always conducted exchanges and cooperation in police affairs and such work has been further enhanced, said Shunichi Kuryo, director-general of the Organized Crime Control Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department of Japan.

Firman Gani, head of the police agency in Jakarta, said that Chinese police and police agencies of ASEAN countries should maintain close contact and launch more face-to-face discussions to enhance cooperation.

Due to their geographical proximity, Liu Shaowu, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, said that China, ASEAN, Japan and South Korea share common interests and circumstances, and their police share ideas on crime prevention, safeguarding public order and serving the public.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2005)