A team of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers,
disguised as terrorists, "hijacked" a merchant ship in order to
break in a closed sea area of the 2008 Olympic Games sailing venue
in east China's Qingdao on Friday.
Missile frigates of the PLA navy, responsible for guarding the
country's maritime security, immediately dispatched commandos to
seize the terrorists.
The exercise was part of a joint drill by the army, navy and air
force of the PLA in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Inner Mongolia, and
the eastern province of Shandong, according to its command
center.
Codenamed "Olympic Security-07", Friday's exercise was the PLA's
first security drill in preparation for the next summer's Olympics.
It was approved by the PLA General Staff Headquarters and organized
by the Beijing Military Command.
The exercise, based on a comprehensive security plan of the
Beijing Olympics, dealt with terrorism, emergencies and biochemical
attacks, with a focus on command and deployment, tactics and
coordination of forces, a source with the command center said.
A civilian flight heading to an Olympic city, which was
"hijacked" by a team of terrorists, was forced to land by the air
force of the Beijing Military Command before it was surrounded and
overtaken by a military emergency unit.
In an anti-bomb maneuver, a terrorist organization declared that
they had placed explosives in a stadium. A PLA rescue team
inspected the site, aided by dogs, and removed the explosives.
The military bureau of the Beijing Olympic Games security work
command center, a security unit of the PLA consisting of army, navy
and air force personnel, was set up to safeguard the Beijing
Olympic Games.
The security unit would mainly deal with non-traditional threats
during the games, particularly biochemical and nuclear terror
attacks, and is responsible for air protection of all arenas, and
maritime safety of coastal venues, according to the Olympic
security plan.
(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2007)