Society

Beijing to enclose villages in security move

By Han Bingbin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-30 06:36

BEIJING - The national capital's Changping district is all set to erect walls around its 44 villages, with security guards manning the entrances at all times, a district government official said.

Villagers will be able to pass through no more than two or three entrances, depending on the size of the villages, the official said, adding that the gates to the villages will be closed between midnight and 6 am.

Moreover, surveillance cameras will also be installed inside each of the 44 villages to ensure security, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The move is part of the district government's efforts to curb crime in the area, where migrants outnumber locals.

The plan to wall Changping villages comes after a similar move in Daxing district proved to be a success, dropping the area's crime rate by a whopping 73 percent.

Sixteen of Daxing's villages have been turned into walled communities, with 400 security guards assigned to patrol the villages around the clock, Wang Qingtao, an official of the Daxing public security bureau, told China Daily.

The 110 police hotline in Daxing has also seen a 46-percent drop in calls to report crimes, Wang added.

The Changping district official maintained the plan to wall villages was "not a complete shutdown", saying all residents, who possess either Beijing household registrations or temporary residential permits will be issued special passes to freely enter and exit their villages.

However, those currently staying in the villages on a temporary basis will have to first apply for valid Beijing residence permits before they are issued the passes, the official added.

Outsiders visiting people in the villages will have to register their names and purpose of visit at the entrances before they are allowed inside, he said.

Changping district has long been faced with security problems arising from the rapidly increasing floating population, he said.

In the district's Tiantongyuan and Huilongguan areas, the 275,000 floating residents have far outnumbered the 60,000 permanent ones.

But Changping cannot simply follow Daxing's plan, for the situations in both districts are different and require different solutions, the official noted.

"All we have is just a general plan," he said. "We'll surely have to make adjustments in the face of different situations."

For example, walling the district's Zhongtan village, one of the 16 villages in Dongxiaokou town that fall under the plan, doesn't seem like a practical idea.

With two main roads crossing the village and some more linking it with neighboring residential buildings, it won't be an easy task to erect walls around Zhongtan, said a villagers' committee official, surnamed Zhang.

The only way around is to set up guard posts at the end of certain narrow roads that lead to the village, he said, adding that houses situated along the main roads will continue to remain unsecured.

With only 1,700 permanent residents and about 30,000 temporary residents, Zhongtan village often sees brawls and thefts, Zhang said.

He said he hoped that once security guards are deployed to the village, there would be a drop in the number of fights and crimes.