Chinese air marshals training in US

BREAKING NEWS
Chinese air marshals training in US

(dpa) The first group of 18 Chinese air marshals will fly to the United States
next month for anti-terrorism training, state media said on Wednesday.

The marshals will spend two weeks learning anti-terrorism tactics at a special
air marshal training school in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the China Daily
newspaper quoted officials as saying.

After training, they will be deployed on flights between China and the United
States operated by Chinese airlines, as part of a bilateral agreement on
aviation security signed in April.

US airlines began deploying air marshals on flights to China on August 9, the
newspaper quoted the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) as saying.

"The latest terrorist plot that was thwarted by British police at Heathrow
Airport on August 10 once again alerted the industry that the terrorist threat
still lingers large in various forms," CAAC security director Yang Chengfeng was
quoted as saying.

"So collaboration is urgently needed between China and the US, particularly in
the field of security checks, tactics, information, air marshal training and law
enforcement," Yang said.

China has deployed more than 2,000 air marshals on domestic and international
flights since 2004, the newspaper said.

Most of the plain-clothes air marshals are recruited from airline security and
police forces.

All have undergone "rigorous courses in arrest techniques, negotiating tactics
and crisis management", it said.
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