China plans to create a "moat" around Beijing for its National Day festivities on October 1 as part of a massive security crackdown ahead of the sensitive anniversary, state media said Wednesday.
The report by Xinhua news agency is the latest indication of official jitters over potential unrest or political disturbances marring the carefully choreographed celebration of 60 years of Communist rule.
China has been battening down the hatches in Beijing in the run-up to the holiday, which will be marked with a military parade and mass performances.
Thousands of additional police have already been deployed in the capital, stepping up security checks on key sites such as the subway system and monitoring vehicles entering and leaving the capital.
But the Xinhua report said the security clampdown also had been expanded to the six provinces and regions that surround the capital, as well as the eastern metropolis of Shanghai and the restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
"Tens of thousands" of People's Armed Police (PAP) — the country's main domestic security force — would spearhead the operation, it said.
"Armed police troops in Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning and Shandong, which surround Beijing, have also been ordered to tighten security measures and to act as the capital's moat," the report said.
China typically cracks down on politically sensitive anniversaries to prevent any activities by groups critical of the Communist Party's rule.
But the government appears particularly nervous ahead of the 60th National Day following deadly riots that rocked Tibet last year and the mainly Muslim Xinjiang region in July, as well as a rising tide of social unrest nationwide.
The deployment of the PAP marks its first large-scale mission since the legislature last week passed a law designating it as the lead force in putting down the periodic explosions of often violence unrest.
The PAP had long performed such duties but the law's passage was seen as a long overdue clarification made necessary by the rising number of incidents.
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