China’s elite anti-hijacking forces to live and train in Shanghai airport as security tightened

China’s very first squad set up to counter plane hijackings has officially moved to its new base in Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport.

Beginning this week, the 140 or so members of the squad, affiliated with the No 9 Brigade of the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force in Shanghai, would train and live at the new base, news portal Chinanews.com reported.

Set up in July 2002, the unit is responsible for countering aircraft hijackings in 20 airports in eastern China’s Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui, according to earlier Chinese media reports. The team is also trained to deal with other high-pressure situations including terrorist attacks.

Airports across China have stepped up security measures since 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

China has faced the rising threat of terrorism over the past decade.