Anticipating potential confrontations with militants or crimes such as kidnappings or hi-jackings, police in east China's Jiangsu Province are fine-tuning their negotiating skills and enhancing their psychological readiness to properly prepare for crises.
A month-long special training class comes as the headlines chronicle events such as the kidnappings by terrorists of school children in Russia - and the Russian military's and police's rescue operation in which hundreds of civilians died.
The training, including how to conduct crisis negotiations, began last week for 32 outstanding police officers.
The class is the first of its kind in the province and rare among other Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, sources say. According to the province's Public Security Bureau, the officers were selected from different places in the province.
Dr Li Changyu, a renowned US criminal investigator, presented the first class at the Jiangsu Police Officer Institute in Nanjing, the provincial capital.
"I sat in on his class as an auditor," said Qian Jiansheng, vice-director of the Information Office of Jiangsu Provincial Public Security Bureau.
"The doctor made a very attractive lecture by presenting many interesting examples, which were easy to digest for the trainees," he said.
Qian said that during the month, the bureau plans to invite Chinese and foreign experts or professors to give lectures.
Negotiating skills
Classes on criminal psychology, negotiating skills, emergency measures and physical strength will be taught.
The trainees will employ knowledge and technology they have studied, including how to negotiate with hijackers and rescue hostages.
Some experts think that hijacking is becoming one of the biggest dangers threatening public security of China.
Statistics show that since this July, reports about hijacking are becoming much more frequent than before.
In view of this, the government has begun to attach greater importance to crisis negotiating skills.
(China Daily September 6, 2004)
