New police force vows to wipe out terrorist activities

A senior police official from Guangdong province has promised to build a professional anti-terrorism police force to help safeguard the province's economic development and social stability.

Li Chunsheng, vice-governor and director-general of the province's Department of Public Security, made the pledge on Wednesday while attending a ceremony marking the establishment of the Division of the Anti-Terrorism Police Force in Guangzhou.

"The fight against terrorism in our country is complex and tough, and both the central and provincial governments have attached great importance to the work against terrorism at the moment," Li said.

He said he expects that the establishment of the anti-terrorism police force will help further increase Guangdong's ability to fight terrorism in the months ahead.

He urged the anti-terrorism division to pay great attention to strengthening intelligence work and making detailed plans for combating terrorism.

He has also promised to expand overseas cooperation in fighting terrorism.

"We will try to smash terrorist acts before they are carried out," he said.

Li said the anti-terrorism force in Guangdong will spare no effort in rooting out and wiping out terrorists who have escaped to or are hiding in the province.

Priority will be given to cracking down on crimes involving guns, knives and explosives to fight terrorism in Guangdong, he said.

Mei Jianming, deputy director of the anti-terrorism college under the People's Public Security University of China, said, "It's necessary to establish a special police force in Guangdong province to nip terrorist attacks in the bud."

"Guangdong, which is adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao, has more people and capital flowing, and is considered to be one of the areas at high risk for terrorists to plan and conduct terrorist attacks," Mei said.

"After establishing the special anti-terrorism division, police in the province will improve their capability to collect information and set up emergency mechanisms to deal with terrorism activities in a timely manner," Mei added.

He said the key to smashing terrorist activity is to strengthen the ability to gather intelligence, and enhance law enforcement cooperation with other countries and regions so that funding and technical support for terrorists from overseas can be cut off, he said.

Contact the writer at zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn