Qiang Wei is a name that will likely appear increasingly more often in RealNews articles (subscribe) and WAR Reports throughout the coming months. As deputy Communist Party Secretary of Beijing, he also serves as head of the Beijing Olympic Security Co-ordination Group established in December 2004. Qiang, along with Li Binghua, Executive Vice-President and Human Resources Department Director of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), will be the architects of the security policy and infrastructure for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Qiang outlined China’s efforts at the China (Beijing) International Exhibition and Symposium on Police Equipment and Anti-terrorism Technology and Equipment held last week. The event featured some over 550 booths and expected to host more than 120 firms and manufactures from China and overseas. A related event, the Beijing 2005 International Terrorism Forum, was also held last week in Beijing with the theme of ?Fighting Terrorism and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games? (source). Although representatives from over 200 local organizations were in attendance, the meeting also hosted 11 security specialists from Israel, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Beyond the traditional deployment of local and state police and military security forces, Qiang revealed plans to mobilize neighborhood committees and transportation networks including drivers of taxis, buses, and trains (rail and subway) into the Olympic security infrastructure.