The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Shopping
    • Stores
    • Coupons
    • Daily Double
    • Promotion
    • How It Works
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • National

    PULLEN: GOP came unmoored in last decade – it hurt

  • National

    WILLIAMS: Finding gratitude in difficult times

  • Sports

    Leonsis in line to buy Wizards, Verizon Center

  • National

    3 airlines fined $175,000 for stranding passengers

  • National

    Ky. hanging, ruled a suicide, leaves bloggers at loss for words

  • Business

    Holiday puts low-cost buses into overtime

  • Politics

    A-listers, fundraisers attend White House state dinner

Home » News » Editor Favorites

Monday, July 28, 2008

Citizen army goes on patrol for Olympics

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

400,000 act as extra ears, eyes

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos
Please stand by, images loading!
  • A security guard standing under a parasol monitors passers-by on a pedestrian flyover in Beijing on Sunday. China has toughened its security measures to keep "undesirables" out of the capital.

More Editor Favorites Stories

  • PULLEN: GOP came unmoored in last decade – it hurt
  • WILLIAMS: Finding gratitude in difficult times
  • Leonsis in line to buy Wizards, Verizon Center
  • 3 airlines fined $175,000 for stranding passengers

By Chris O'Brien

BEIJING | A stroll through Beijing's maze of hutong alleyways these days reveals much about the Chinese government's obsession with security ahead of the Olympic Games and its unerring ability to rally its people around a common cause.

These quiet lanes are now the barracks of many of the capital's 400,000 "public security volunteers," a citizen army of neighborhood committees acting as the extra eyes and ears to Beijing's Olympic security force, which already comprises 80,000 police officers, 100,000 counterterrorism troops and 300,000 surveillance cameras.

"If the Olympics are not safe, there is nothing else worth speaking of," Xi Jinping, the top Chinese official in charge of Olympic preparations, was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying earlier this week.

The mobilization of the neighborhood committees for the Olympics harks back to Chairman Mao Zedong's concept of "people's warfare," said Willy Lam, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation and a veteran China commentator.

"The committees were quasi-spy agencies until the late 1980s, usually made up of old ladies and retirees who would report on irregular activities of residents - such as those who had lots of foreign or Taiwanese friends. Of course, times have changed," said Mr. Lam.

Nowadays, sinister it is not. But the government wants every angle covered.

On Arrow Hutong, just inside the second ring road, four elderly women sit on tiny wooden stools, fan themselves and gossip. Two wear official red-and-white polo shirts, sponsored by the local Yanjing beer, that have been given to every Olympic security volunteer.

The other two are identified by Cultural Revolution-era red armbands even though officials said last year that they wanted to scrap them to "move with the times." The new polo shirts are too hot, the two women complain.

"There is nothing for us to do. There is no crime here and hardly any people walking around," said a woman who gave only her family name, Zhu. "But we want to do our bit to help China host a great Olympics."

Her most pressing task, she said, is to ensure a clean environment. "We should also tell men walking around topless to put a shirt on," she said. Minutes later, a couple of bare bellies wobbled past without reproach.

[Get Copyright Permissions] Click here for reprint permissions!
Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC

123Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Please login or register to post a comment

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  3. Fenty trails Gray in D.C. poll
  4. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  5. Food snobs fork over $225 for taste of heritage turkey
More Top Stories »
  1. Religious leaders vow civil disobedience on anti-life issues
  2. Company that repaired Chairman Gray's house lacked license
  3. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  4. KELLNER: New Apple mouse really is 'Magic'
  5. Green energy stimulus growing few jobs

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. The United Socialist States of America
  3. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  4. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  5. Fenty trails Gray in D.C. poll
More Top Stories »
  1. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  2. EDITORIAL: Terrorists use Democratic talking points
  3. Food snobs fork over $225 for taste of heritage turkey
  4. LETTER TO EDITOR: When family ties die
  5. EDITORIAL: Obama's sacked inspector general

Most Commented

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  3. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  4. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  5. Lobbyists spending big to shape health care debate
More Top Stories »
  1. Schumer: Dems will pass health bill alone
  2. EDITORIAL: Terrorists use Democratic talking points
  3. WH: Obama Afghan decision 'within days'
  4. EDITORIAL: Schumer's change of heart
  5. Green energy stimulus growing few jobs

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Question of the day

White House officials and Senate Democrats met in private three times last week to craft health care legislation. Do you think these discussions should be more public?

Blogs & Columns

  • Hot Button Blog

    RNC: Breast cancer recommendations may lead to 'rationing'

  • Belief Blog

    Evangelicals OK civil disobedience

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • Redskins 360

    Gray spends day in Memphis

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.