China paramilitary protects torch

Anita Chang

Associated Press Writer

They wear bright blue tracksuits and Beijing Olympic organizers call them “flame attendants.” But a military bearing hints at their true pedigree: paramilitary units sent to guard the Olympic flame.

Torchbearers have criticized the security detail for aggressive behavior, and a top London Olympics official simply called them “thugs.”

“They were barking orders at me, like ‘Run! Stop! This! That!’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, who are these people?’” former television host Konnie Huq told British Broadcasting Corp. radio about her encounter with the men during London’s leg of the relay Sunday.

So far, the “29th Olympic Games Torch Relay Flame Protection Unit” — as the squad is officially known — has kept the flame from being seized during, protest-filled runs through Paris, London and San Francisco.

Officially, Beijing has said only that the unit’s mission was to guard the flame, in keeping with past Olympic games.

Members were picked from special police units of the People’s Armed Police, China’s internal security force. The requirements for the job: to be “tall, handsome, mighty, in exceptional physical condition similar to that of professional athletes,” the state-run China News Service said.

Special police units are the top tier of the paramilitary corps, chosen for skills in martial arts, marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, according to sinodefense.com, a British-based Web site specializing in Chinese military affairs.

The training for the Olympic flame detail included daily mountain runs of at least six miles and lessons in protocol. They also learned basic commands such as “go,” ‘’step back,” ‘’speed up” and “slow down” in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese, the China News Service said.

But as the torch made a stormy procession through London and Paris, the military training rather than the protocol seemed to come to the fore.