China makes security top priority

By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese paramilitary troops have been issued a mobilization order to ensure a trouble-free Olympics, as security became Beijing's top priority for the 2008 Games after anti-Chinese riots in Tibet and nearby provinces.

"Without security guarantees, there cannot be a successful Olympic Games, and without security guarantees the national image will be lost," President Hu Jintao was quoted as saying in the official newspaper of China's anti-riot forces on Tuesday.

The People's Armed Police News said a "political mobilization order" had gone out to the People's Armed Police troops telling them to prepare for an arduous time ensuring order and control before and during the Games in August.

"The drums of war are sounding, a decisive battle is at hand. For the sake of the Chinese nation's image and for the honor of the People's Armed Police, let us never forget our duty," it said.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) official Kevan Gosper said the Chinese were taking security very seriously and that preparations had been "excellent".

The official warnings come in the wake of anti-Chinese riots and protests in Tibet and nearby western provinces in March, and after international rights groups vowed protests at the Games to highlight their complaints about China's policies on human rights and media controls, Sudan's Darfur region, and Tibet.

China has also said it has foiled terrorist acts by Uighurs seeking an independent homeland for their largely Muslim people in the western region of Xinjiang.

But the World Uyghur Congress is urging a boycott of the Olympics opening ceremony to mark what it describes as oppression, said Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the German-based organization.