Security Agency ‘Can Move Quickly When Crises Hit’

South China Morning Post

01 April 2014

The newly established National Security Commission is likely to play a significant role in the handling of major emergencies after two recent incidents tested the nation’s ability to deal with crises quickly and effectively, observers say.

The mainland put in place an emergency response system after the Sars outbreak in 2003, detailing actions to be taken to deal with natural disasters and public health and security incidents.

But the knife attack at Kunming station in Yunnan province on March 1 that left 33 people dead, including four assailants, and scores injured has triggered calls for improvements amid public concerns over whether the police response was hampered by government bureaucracy.

… Dr Rohan Gunaratna, of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, said Beijing should create a specialist unit of highly trained officers to respond to violent attacks. “China should not believe that ordinary police can respond to such incidents,” he said. “It must groom a special unit that can respond rapidly.”

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