China plans to send police liaison officers to Australia and some other countries facing terrorist threats to improve police networking and better combat terrorism, the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.

"We plan to send liaison officers to Australia to improve our global network," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

"We'll also send such officers to some countries that have a heavy anti-terrorism task on their hand," it said without naming the countries.

The move to strengthen international police cooperation, especially on anti-terrorism, comes after the bloody attacks in Mumbai, India, in which at least 188 people were killed and 313 wounded.

"Given the growing threat of terrorism, it's necessary to expand our anti-terrorism frontline," Li Li, head of the ministry's police liaison officers' cooperation office, said.

Experts said police liaison officers would be sent to Australia mainly for the large number of Chinese there. The Chinese population in Australia has grown rapidly, and with it has increased the number of crimes against them and in which they are involved, said Zhao Yu, professor of international police affairs at the Chinese People's Public Security University.

"Chinese policemen posted there can better handle such cases and protect the rights of Chinese," Zhao said.

Ministry figures show China has 30 police liaison officers in 19 countries, including the US, the UK, Russia, Thailand, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that have close anti-terrorism cooperation with China.

Li said the first Chinese police liaison officer was sent in 1998 to the US to fight drug smuggling. "Since then, our officers have played an important role in combating cross-borders crimes and protecting the rights of overseas Chinese. They've also managed to provide a lot of valuable intelligence on terrorism," she said.

According to the ministry, from 2005 to 2007, such officers handled or help handle more than 800 cases and helped arrest or repatriate 61 people.

For example, a drug-trafficking racket spread from the US and Canada to China was busted in January with the help of Chinese police officers stationed abroad. About 25 kg of cocaine was seized and 10 people were arrested.

The repatriation of a corrupt manager of a State-owned enterprise Yuan Tongshun from Japan in May and a suspected smuggler Cai Wenxian from the Philippines, too, are successful examples of joint international police work.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) yesterday said it backed China's plan to deploy more police liaison officers across the world.

"China's sovereign policy decision to place more of its fine police officers around the world at Interpol and selected countries should be welcomed by the entire world, and certainly by Interpol," Interpol Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble said in a written response to China Daily.

He said Interpol finds its work most effective while working with countries that have a strong international network of police officers. "If Chinese police officers are there, it'll be a benefit to us all."

(China Daily December 3, 2008)