Rules of engagement for anti-terrorism combat operations are being formulated by the Chinese army to deal with the growing terrorist threat facing the nation.

The move would mark the first time since its founding 82 years ago that the 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) would have separate regulations for anti-terrorism operations.

"The army is drafting an Ordinance for Anti-terrorism Combat Operations based on its experience in anti-terror missions over the past few years," Major General Meng Guoping told China Daily.

The army will also publish its first set of combat guidelines on anti-terror operations for the whole armed forces, said Meng, who is deputy director of the war operations department under the General Staff Department of the PLA.

The guidelines will regulate the anti-terror mission's responsibility, composition, command and logistics support, Meng said.

The major general made the remarks following the just-concluded Peace Mission 2009 Sino-Russian anti-terror drill in Taonan, Jilin province.

About 2,600 troops from the ground and air forces of both nations took part in the drill.

Since 2002, the Chinese armed forces have participated in anti-terrorism drills under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Acknowledging the growing threat of global and domestic terrorist activities, Meng stressed the importance of military strikes in curbing terrorism.

In that regard, he said, the army can be given the main task of providing specialized anti-terror forces and intelligence support.

"The PLA has included anti-terror combat training in its elite armed forces divisions since last year and each army division has set up its task force for emergency response," Meng said.

Countries including the US and the United Kingdom have included their military in their anti-terror mechanisms at the national level after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Meng said more exchanges with foreign armed forces, including information sharing on anti-terrorism, will be conducted. Overseas cooperation will include joint efforts to disarm terrorists, including actions to draw them out, he said.

Anti-terror specialists said the priority that the PLA is giving to anti-terrorism operations is timely and will likely reduce the risks of terrorist attacks.

Li Wei, director of the center for counter-terrorism studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the PLA has proved its competence in coping with nontraditional security threats during the ongoing anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, as well as in natural disaster relief, such as last year's May 12 quake in Sichuan province.

"As the military continues to strengthen its combat capabilities, it may deploy more troops for overseas missions for nontraditional security missions," Li told China Daily.

"This is a shift by the military from traditional combat missions to nontraditional missions," Li said.

Song Xiaojun, a leading military expert based in Beijing, said preventive measures are unquestionably necessary.

"Extremists, separatists and terrorists have been collaborating to target China and turning more violent, almost to the point of forming an anti-Chinese government rebellion," Song said.

The "three forces" defined in the SCO Shanghai Treaty, namely extremism, separatism and terrorism, were said to be behind the deadly riot in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on July 5, during which 197 Han people and Uygurs died.

China gave legal rights to its army to combat terrorism when it implemented the Emergency Response Law in August 2007.

But experts have also urged the authorities to speed up legislation of the country's anti-terrorism law.

"The military's build-up against terrorism is strictly within the national framework," Li said.

"The nation will only have more security if it speeds up the process of streamlining its anti-terror procedures."

(China Daily July 31, 2009)