Beijing police will work more closely with their counterparts abroad in the run up to the Olympic Games, a senior police officer said Tuesday..

Beijing police leaders Tuesday met their ASEAN peers, as well as representatives from Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK), to discuss how to combat terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other security hazards.

Ma Zhenchuan, director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, said that in the face of growing cross-border threats, it was vital that countries quickly set up close and stable cooperation to safeguard regional peace and security.

Ma made the remarks at the opening ceremony of a three-day workshop on exchanges and cooperation among police agencies from the capital cities of countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as China, Japan and the ROK. ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Topics on the agenda of the closed-door workshop include terrorism, trans-national crimes such as drug trafficking and money laundering, management of foreign visitors, and urban traffic administration.

Ma said that Olympic Games' safety will be the major task for the Beijing police over the next few years, adding that preparations for Olympic security are already in full swing.

"The Olympic Games is an open international sports gala," said Ma. "We will team up with the world community, especially our foreign police counterparts, to safeguard the security of the 2008 Games."

The 13 capital police agencies' leaders will sign a declaration tomorrow with the aim of bolstering confidence and enhancing cooperation and exchanges between them.

The final Beijing Declaration may include basic principles, missions and operating mechanisms of policing collaboration, setting out models for intelligence sharing and joint operations against common security threats, according to the Beijing Public Security Bureau.

The on-going workshop is regarded as a concrete cooperation program between ASEAN and its "Plus Three" partners, who are moving towards building an integrated community over the East Asia region.

(China Daily August 17, 2005)