Nearly 300,000 passengers and 300,000 tons of cargo have been
transported on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in the past 100 days, but
there has not been a single crime, a senior official said
yesterday.
Since July 1 when the railway started operation, no criminal
cases have been reported along the railway or onboard the train,
and there have been "very few" public security problems, said Li
Zhigang, deputy director of the public security bureau under the
Ministry of Railways.
"We're optimistic that such good public security can be
maintained," he said at a ministry press briefing yesterday.
He said there were some theft cases while the railway was under
construction, but after an intensified police crackdown no such
cases have been reported since it opened.
"Our investigation showed that none of the early cases were
conducted by Tibetan people," he added.
Li said because local police departments in Tibet and Qinghai
are short-staffed, the ministry had transferred about 500 policemen
from across the country to help safeguard the railway.
"About 200 are still working there with their local
counterparts," he said.
Local public security bureaus along the railway have been
equipped with police vehicles that are suitable for plateau
work.
Li said local governments in Tibet and Qinghai have also
attached great importance to railway security.
The Tibet Autonomous Region has set up a 500-member patrol team,
and Qinghai has similar team.
"The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the first and only railway that
links Tibet with other parts of China. It's crucial to maintain its
security," Li said.
Ministry figures also show that the number of criminal cases
involving railways across the country is on a steady decrease.
By the end of last month, the number had dropped by 18.63
percent over the same period last year. And last's year's number
was a decrease of 22 percent from 2004.
In the just-concluded week-long National Day holiday, about
42.13 million people traveled by railway, 3.68 million more than
last year. About 2.76 million people traveled by air during the
holiday.
(China Daily October 11, 2006)