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Military reveals Olympic security data

By Cui Jia and Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-08 09:57

The Chinese army had deployed more than 46,000 servicemen for security and safety operations in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong during last year's Beijing Olympics, a top Chinese military official revealed Tuesday in a published article.

Also 44 sets of air-defense missiles, 63 ships, 98 aircrafts and 60 helicopters were pressed into service, the PLA revealed for the first time since the Games.

Related readings:  People snap up Olympic licensed products  Olympic drum auction yields 41.4m yuan in Beijing

"The length of the Beijing Olympics' security mission topped the record in the military's security mission history The number of troops deployed for the mission were the highest of its kind so far," wrote Li Jinai, the head of the People's Liberation Army's General Political Department, in an article titled Army's Support for Games, Brilliance in History.

The article by Li, who is also a member of the Central Military Commission, was published Tuesday on the Outlook Weekly magazine run by the Xinhua News Agency.

The flawless security during the Olympics has set a good example for future mega events, he wrote.

Upcoming events this year in Beijing include celebrations for China's 60th National Day, featuring a grand army parade on Oct 1. The Beijing municipal government said the scale of security operations will be as high as that during the Beijing Olympics.

More than 60 top officials from the military zones across the country took part in the command of the security operation of the Games, besides the over 1,700 senior military officials at the front line, Li wrote in the article.

Li also took the opportunity to praise soldiers involved in the smooth running of the Games, from changing grass blocs at the Olympic venue Bird's Nest to the flag-raising at each competition.

In Qingdao last May 118,000 troops were involved in cleaning the 210,000 tons of algae contaminating the Olympic sailing venue three months before the Games.

A total of 14,000 troops also performed most of the programs in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.

"The accuracy of the soldiers' movements in the performances came from hard work out of people's imagination," Li wrote.