A current trade fair in Canton features bullet-proof vests, anti-riot helmets and shields, electric shock batons and other equipment for use by China's newly formed riot police force, an official daily said today. The China Daily said the China Jingan Equipment Import and Export Corporation is also displaying tear gas bombs, dye bombs, submachine guns and anti-riot guns. It quoted an official of the corporation, the only Chinese firm authorized to deal in police equipment in China, as saying more than 1,000 sets of anti-riot helmets and shields have already been supplied to police in Henan, Liaoning and Tibet provinces. Tibet is troubled by a small independence movement and tension between Chinese and the local Tibetans, while there have been reports of labor unrest in Liaoning, northeast China. The creation of the riot police force coincides with what Chinese security officials acknowledge is a rising problem with crime and social unrest resulting from the state's gradual loosening of political and economic controls. In the past few years there have been riots in Tibet, student demonstrations calling for greater democracy, labor strikes and protests by farmers about pollution. Jingan official Yin Guishan said the cost of providing a riot police officer with a full range of equipment would be about $1,350. He said the company is also designing China's first armored police personnel carrier, a $81,000 vehicle carrying 10 people and equipped with surveillance instruments and weapons.
