Getting goods and people into Beijing from now until the end of the Olympics is going to get more and more difficult as security tightens. I Had the most strengent security checks on my way into Beijing last week, they almost didn’t let me in because they thought I looked different to my passport picture!

We also we have a shipment that has been “held up” due to the extra security checks so expect delays in getting things in and out of Beijing!

Joe

 Two armed Chinese special police force officers patrol on the square in front of Beijing Train Station. Photo / AP

Photo from: NZ Herald.

BEIJING - Guards with machine guns began patrolling the Beijing airport as the city tightens security for the Olympics, news reports said Saturday.

Also this weekend, police will start checking Beijing subway passengers for guns and explosives, the reports said.

The measures reflect the fears of Chinese leaders, who worry the Olympics might be tarnished by security threats. They also hope to stop activists who want to use the August games to air grievances against the communist government.

At the airport, two-member teams of guards with machine guns began work Thursday and will patrol all three terminals through the end of the Olympics, the Xinhua News Agency and newspapers reported. Chinese police usually are unarmed, while some airport guards carry pistols.

“I think they look cool, and you rarely get to see such big guns,” the China Daily newspaper quoted a female traveler at the airport as saying.

On subways, police with dogs will start checking passengers for guns, knives, explosives and flammable, poisonous or radioactive material on Sunday, Xinhua said.

Story via: NZ Herald    Security tightens in Beijing for the Olympics