New forces in Xinjiang to prevent riots
- Source: Global Times
- [21:51 February 04 2010]
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The government has approved a plan to recruit 5,000 special police officers in Northwest China's Xinjiang region to help prevent unrest such as the devastating riots of July 5 last year, which killed 197 people.
The new recruits would be civil servants under the leadership of the Xinjiang Regional Public Security Bureaus and cover the whole region.
It would be the largest recruitment campaign of its kind in Xinjiang and all new recruits, after a month of intensive training, would serve alongside special police officers from other provinces, said Zhu Changjie, director of the regional public security bureau.
"We expect them to be on patrol independently at the end of March," said Zhu.
In China, special police units are responsible for combating terrorism, maintaining public security, and dealing with violent crimes and emergencies.
More than 3,600 people, mainly decommissioned soldiers and college graduates, had been enlisted so far after a strict screening procedure.
Training of the first 2,360 recruits started Tuesday in Urumqi, the regional capital.
Cai Anji, an official with the Ministry of Public Security, urged training departments to develop "a professional force to fight terrorism and strike against violent crimes, and a quick-response force in emergencies."
The recruitment was jointly laid out by the Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the State Administration of Civil Service.
Xinhua
