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The offer was made by Thomas V. Fuentes, assistant director of the Office of International Operations at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He told reporters Wednesday that the large influx of people going to Beijing for the Summer Olympics in August 2008 represented "a massive challenge for any country."
Fuentes, responsible for 300 FBI agents stationed at 75 U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide, including two agents based in Beijing, is in the Chinese capital for the sixth meeting of the Joint Liaison Group. Aside from the FBI, numerous officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Drug Enforcement Agency are meeting with Chinese counterparts at the two day gathering.
The JLG was created in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Justice and State Department together with China's Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to improve and enhance Sino-U.S. cooperation on law enforcement issues.
Chinese security forces needed to be concerned about the "unprecedented number of foreign visitors" entering the country for the sporting event Fuentes said, citing the need for background checks to see "whether they intend to do violence at the Olympics for any variety of reasons."
Not counting spectators and other tourists expected to come, the FBI official stated there will be more than 200,000 people directly involved with the Olympics including support staff running the venues, catering and housing as well as athletes, coaches and the media. Fuentes said the bureau was "offering every possible assistance in terms of information sharing or other technical assistance, as are other countries."
The FBI official said, "We're still in the discussion stage, sharing what capabilities are on both sides so they can understand what we have that would be available to them," when asked about the reaction of Chinese authorities to having foreign law enforcement agencies providing assistance with Olympic security.
Qin Gang, spokesman from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a briefing Thursday that security agencies in his country "hoped to enhance cooperation" with outside agencies to ensure a safe and successful sporting event.
Part of the dialogue conducted on a regular basis between the FBI and its Chinese counterpart is through the Olympic Coordination Office established by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing last summer and headed by Minister Councilor Howard Krawitz. William Liu, an FBI agent who previously served as legal attaché for the embassy, is a member of the OCO staff.
Susan Stevenson with the Beijing Embassy's press office told reporters it was the first time the State Department had created an office exclusively focused on the Olympics. She said it would be in operation until the end of the Paralympic Games in October 2008.
Fuentes noted, "Bill Liu will be in a position to represent the FBI insofar as what capabilities we would have, or what specialties we could bring to enhance the efforts by MPS and other Chinese agencies to ensure the security of the Olympic Games."
Liu's specific role includes speaking for the FBI and coordinating Chinese requests for specific assistance. He is also able to inform the OCO on what resources the FBI has that can be brought to bear during the Olympics or in the event of a critical incident happening during the event.
Fuentes stated tactical units operated by the People's Armed Police and MPS were among "the best in the world" and China didn't need that kind of assistance from the FBI's SWAT team. "But in terms of global information sharing, the global reach through other intelligence networks, that is something we are offering and know would be helpful to them," the law enforcement official added.
The FBI office director also mentioned hostage negotiations, evidence response, bombing investigations, post blast evidence recovery and victim identification as some of the specialized areas where it had "a great deal of experience, and provided (services) at prior Olympics in other countries over the years."
Chinese authorities are currently "assessing whether they're going to ask for it," he said. "In any of those areas, the extent to which the FBI can help, we're presenting ourselves as willing to help," Fuentes said.
