Chinese police to help patrol Paris tourist destinations
Chinese police will help patrol tourist destinations in Paris this summer after a rise in muggings and attacks on Chinese tourists, a source in France's interior ministry said.
Chinese police will help patrol tourist destinations in Paris this summer after a rise in muggings and attacks on Chinese tourists, a source in France's interior ministry said.
The ministry source said the Chinese police would help their French counterparts in Paris tourist spots.
The French police will invite 10 Chinese counterparts to patrol with them, local media quoted French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve as saying. In addition to patrolling, the Chinese policemen would also serve as interpreters when Chinese tourists need to communicate with local police, he said.
The number of Chinese tourists is expected to leap by 40 per cent this year after France eased its visa application process.
Numbers are also expected to be given a boost because of events linked to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Paris and Beijing. Paris, the most visited city in the world, has been suffering from increasing cases of pickpocketing.
Chinese visitors are thought to be targeted because of their preference for carrying cash over credit cards.
In March last year, a group of 23 Chinese visitors were robbed in a restaurant shortly after they landed at Paris' Charles De Gaulle airport.
On June 14 last year, six Chinese oenology students were attacked by three drunk local men at their home in Hostens, south of France's western Gironde Province.
The presence of foreign police is not uncommon in Paris streets.
Uniformed Romanian police officers have patrolled Paris to help fight a growing tide of criminality among immigrant Romanians in the city
