China’s counterterrorism teams ‘must work together’ to keep mega bridge safe, expert says
- Soldiers and armed police from China’s mainland expected to work with specialist teams from Hong Kong and Macau
- 55km span forecast to carry 29,000 vehicles a day by 2030
Chinese soldiers, armed police and specialist teams will be tasked with ensuring security on and around the new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the world’s longest sea crossing, which opened to traffic on Wednesday morning, a local military expert said.
The location of the 55km (34 mile) bridge, which passes through three separate administrative areas, means that security teams from the mainland province of Guangdong and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau will have to work together to keep it safe from terrorist attack, said Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping.
“It is inevitable that law enforcers and security departments from the three sides must work together when it comes to crime or terrorism incidents,” he said.
“There has to be a cross-border coordination mechanism and contingency plans involving all three.”
Security on the mainland side would mostly be handled by the paramilitary People’s Armed Police Force (PAP), he said.
In Hong Kong, such duties are usually carried out by special tactical units from the Hong Kong Police Force, like the Counter Terrorism Response Unit and the elite Special Duties Unit, also known as the “Flying Tigers”.