In early Summer 2007, “anti-terrorist” units set up by the People’s Armed Police (PAP) held exercises in the eastern Tibetan regions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). These units were formed with the declared intention of countering any possible terrorist plot and responding to any groups that may attempt sabotage or disrupt the 2008 Olympic Games. However, witnesses to the exercises report that they instead appeared to be aimed at controlling by force protesting crowds or disturbances, indicating that their primary function was to deter local Tibetans from holding protests far from the actual games. Combined with other reports about preparations for the Olympics, a picture is emerging that suggests the Chinese authorities, quite pragmatically, regard public displays of discontent, particularly in minority regions, rather than terrorist attacks as the prime challenge to holding a harmonious Olympic Games.

The photographs presented in this Update were taken from a video recently received by TibetInfoNet. It was shot in Hezuo/Ganlho in the region traditionally known to Tibetans as Amdo, now part of Gansu province. The town is famed for its nine-storey monastery linked to the Tibetan saint of the 11th-12th century, Milarepa. The exercise shown on the video was held in the first week of July 2007 and was unannounced beforehand. The exercise was later repeated in other Tibetan areas in Sichuan, Gansu, and Qinghai. It preceded by one month the quasi state of emergency enforced by government paramilitaries in Lithang following a public appeal for the return of the Dalai Lama (see TibetInfoNet’s Update of 15 September 2007).

The well-orchestrated demonstration of power was described by witnesses (local monks, nomads and shopkeepers) as “very impressive”. The skills shown were basically countering public disturbances, incapacitating individuals, confronting and controlling riots, handling armed opponents and martial arts etc.

Since 2006, the PAP and other security agencies such as the People’s Security Bureau (PSB) and the armed forces have set up special units within an anti-terrorist network that covers all the Tibetan areas in TAR and other provinces. This network has been introduced from the provincial level to cities and partly even to counties. It is not known whether any unified command structure has been established, however some sort of joint working mechanism is likely to be in place. The PAP for one has set up specialised counter-terrorist units and developed a network whereby they are able to reinforce one another. Although Beijing has been projecting growing terrorist threats, in particular from Islamic separatists among the Uighur population in the western region of Xinjiang, international experts grade the threat of terrorist attacks on the Beijing Olympics as relatively low. This view seems to be tacitly shared by Chinese experts, as AP reported that the Chinese government allocated $300 million for security, less than the Greek authorities spent for the Athens Olympics in 2004.