China thwarts two separate terrorist attacks.

Just today, news broke out from China authorities that they have thwarted two separate terrorist attacks, including one on the coming 2008 Olympic Games premises. According to a Xinhua report, the separatist miliants tried to hijack a plane, but were foiled by the crew. In response to these incidents, Wang Lequan, the chief of the Xinjiang regional committee of the Communist Party of China, said the government was prepared to strike against the "three evil forces" in the region: terrorists, separatists and extremists. There has been no further details provided for both cases from the news report.

I think that this is a good sign that the world is stepping up to increase its defence against terrorrism, especially China, who is getting its act up after being hit by a slew of food scares. I think that there are three main reasons that this is a piece of good news; one, people will now have a sense of security when venturing into China, and two; China will probably have an undisturbed and unblemished record after it has held the most important and momentous event in its country for a long time, the Beijing Olympics; and three; this shows two rather good points about the nation itself and the people. I shall elaborate on the third one.

I think that this is a sign that China is trying to show the world that it is capable of doing things well. This I perceive as a sign of self-promotion, which is good, as it will fuel its rapidly growing economy by drawing more trusting investors. More importantly, it shows the government is really putting in a big effort to improve the country's image. This is understandable, as after so much hype about the Beijing Olympics, the last thing the nation needs is a bomb to go off in a crowded stadium. And to add insult to literal injury, the whole world is watching as well. Meanwhile, the terrorists responsible are away in hiding laughing their heads off. Rather dreadful, isn't it?

The second thing that I see from that article is that the people are also putting in effort to help their country and in everybody's eternal strive for self-gratification, i'm glad to see that they have spared a thought for their country and others around themselves. Just imagine the world if everyone was selfish and kept to himself. I recommend the crew on that flight should be given a medal for their bravery against the hijackers.

On the whole, I feel that this article has given me anew insight into the Chinese nation and its mentality, and it has also led me to discover the spirit they have in them whenever they do something, be it hosting a perfect Olympics, or to stop a group of hijackers.

There might be other people to thank for the success of the thwarting, but due to the limited length of the article, I am unable to do so. Sorry.

All the best for the Olympics!

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/09/china.terror/index.html