Police to learn from experience of others on big sports events

An international public security conference aimed at sharing experiences related to sports events and improving cooperation between police officers at home and abroad will open in Beijing on Thursday.

The two-day conference will pursue topics related to safeguarding the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Representatives of law enforcement from countries that have hosted major sports events after 2001 - especially the Winter Olympics and the World Cup - including Canada, South Korea and France, will attend to share their experiences.

"We successfully held the Summer Olympic Games in 2008, but we have little experience with how to ensure security at a major sports event in winter," said Gao Hongjun, deputy director for foreign affairs at the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau's office. "We are eager to learn from the experience of others to boost our security measures."

The conference provides four forums for attendees, Gao said, allowing them to communicate on anti-terrorism, services for foreigners, city security, gymnasium security and advanced security technologies.

"The conference will also be a good opportunity for many Chinese police officers to better understand ice and snow activities," he added. "We hope to further contribute to improving our security-related cooperation with the other countries."

Although it will be the first time for the bureau to hold an international conference with such a theme, communication with police officers from other nations has been ongoing since 2014.

In 2015, China and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding about setting up joint patrols in tourist spots in both nations - the first such agreement between China and a foreign country. Since then, China has sent more than 30 police officers to Italy to conduct joint patrols in three groups. Italy sent 16 police officers to China in two groups.

In November 2016, the bureau co-hosted a law enforcement meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with the foreign affairs department of the Beijing government and issued a cooperation declaration.

Last year, groups from 15 countries and two international organizations in Southeast Asia were invited to take part in a law enforcement conference organized by the bureau. There were heated discussions on several judicial issues, including the fight against terrorists, drugs and cross-border crimes. They also established a long-term communication system to share police affairs.

"Thanks to such memorandums and law enforcement conferences, we've established trust with other countries, and that trust is the basis of judicial cooperation," Gao said. "We'll maintain the trust to effectively solve crimes, supply better services for residents and guarantee the capital's security."