Americans will be the first to testify that terrorist attacks can have far reaching implications on security checks nationwide. To date, China has been blissfully free of the invasive security now deployed at US airports and other monuments, but that may be changing in light of the deadly terrorist attack over the weekend in Kunming. The deadly violence at Kunming Train Station has stirred up fears that acts of terrorism, which used to be mostly confined to Xinjiang, are now starting to ripple across the country, Caijing wrote.

Guangzhou is among the first cities to take action. It is upgrading security at its main train stations, shopping centers and at Baiyun Airport following the attack in Kunming which left 29 people dead and more than 140 severely injured, Yangcheng Evening News reported on March 3.

Guangzhou’s Yuexiu police department has stepped up security forces along Beijing Road, a popular shopping street in the city, and sent out fully armed police officers at the entrance of the street, the report said.

More police officers have been dispatched to Guangzhou’s main train station, in ticketing areas and along platforms. Meanwhile, the city’s airport also tightened up its security checks. Each person entering the airport must now go through strict body checks for bombs and other dangerous materials, one person surnamed Huang told the newspaper.

Densely-populated areas including Guangzhou Library, Guangzhou No. 2 Children’s Palace and Tianhe Cheng are also seeing increased security after the Kunming attack. Other cities in Guangdong including Shaoguan and Shanwei have also tightened up security checks in stations, schools and hospitals, the report added.

On Saturday, knife-wielding attackers in black rushed into a railway station in Kunming in southwest Yunnan Province and stabbed people indiscriminately. Xinjiang separatist forces were blamed for the terrorist attack, according to the government, although no group has taken responsibility. As of the writing, state news agency Xinhua has announced the attackers who survived a police onslaught have been captured.

Home page photo credit: Yangcheng Evening News