Police stepping up patrols near border

By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-11 07:47

More than 7,000 police officers have been sent to villages along China's border ahead of a potentially turbulent period, a senior public security official has said.

They are staying in villages, including those in coastal regions, to help local officials manage site-specific concerns, said Fu Hongyu, a National People's Congress deputy and political commissar of the border protection bureau under the Ministry of Public Security.

The officer deployment to border villages began in 2005 and the bureau will continue expanding the push, Fu said on the sideline of the ongoing two sessions in Beijing.

Security in border areas faces greater challenges this year, which marks several sensitive anniversaries, Fu said. Border locations are "traditionally sensitive regions", he added.

Fu explained the economic downturn would also exert negative impacts on border- area security, and some new trends would play a role:

Rising unemployment has resulted in more property-related crimes, such as thefts and robberies.

Disputes among employers and employees triggered by company closures or operational difficulties are on the up, increasing the danger of mass incidents.

Problems caused by unstable prices for agricultural products and land acquisition are growing.

"Some people facing pressure from declining incomes and growing hardships are prone to pessimism and disappointment," he said.

So police would closely monitor potential problems along the border and tighten controls to combat drugs smuggling and gun trafficking, as well as "any other illegal activities", Fu said.

Officers have made about 600,000 visits to more than 10,000 villages on the border since Dec 1 last year, helping resolve about 16,100 disputes.

Shan Guangnai, a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher who has closely followed the country's social unrest, also warned the number of mass incidents is very likely to remain at a high level, or even increase, in coming years.

But Shan added: "A few incidents don't indicate a dissatisfaction among the people against the government, nor does it show China has encountered a social crisis."

(China Daily 03/11/2009 page7)