- 08-31 00:10
poloooEarlier news reports said they are trained in martial arts and carry knives and clubs, but it isn't clear whether they use firearms...that's funny... - 08-31 00:09
poloooReport: China Seeks Air Marshal Training
12 hrs ago Report: China Seeks Air Marshal Training
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The Associated Press
Aug 29, 2006 11:21 PM (12 hrs ago)
Current rank: Not ranked
BEIJING - China is sending 18 air marshals to the United States for anti-terror training as the two governments prepare to station marshals on flights linking the two countries, a news report said Wednesday.
The Chinese marshals are to undergo two weeks of training at an air marshal facility in Atlantic City, N.J., the China Daily said, citing the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
They will be deployed on flights operated by Chinese carriers once they have completed the course, the newspaper said.
"The latest terrorist plot that was thwarted by British police at Heathrow Airport on Aug. 10 once again alerted the industry that the terrorist threat still lingers large," Yang Chengfeng, director of CAAC's security department, was quoted as saying.
Yang said China and the United States need to work more closely on security checks, tactics, information and air marshal training, the report said.
China has gone through several stages of tightening air security since suffering a wave of hijackings in the mid-1990s. The United States and China agreed in April to station air marshals on flights between the two countries.
Some 2,000 plainclothes air marshals have been stationed aboard domestic Chinese flights since 2004. Earlier news reports said they are trained in martial arts and carry knives and clubs, but it isn't clear whether they use firearms.