Professional guards to tackle threat overseas
Source: AFP |
January 23, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN sub-zero winter cold at an army base in Beijing, trainees wake before dawn to practice martial arts and evasive driving, while a Portuguese ex-special forces soldier barks commands.
"We are not polite any more... we are only efficient," declares Marco Borges - his words rapidly translated into Chinese.
But despite their dark uniforms and heavy black boots these are not the latest recruits to some new unit of China's People's Liberation Army.
Instead, the roughly 40-strong group, mostly with previous military experience, are on a commercial training course to become elite bodyguards to protect Chinese firms abroad.
The best will be recruited by the school's sister company, Genghis Security Advisor, which offers protection for China's wealthiest citizens from attacks and kidnapping at home and abroad.
Chinese citizens have been targeted by hostage-takers in Pakistan and Indonesia to as far-flung countries like Nigeria and Sudan. Chinese resource firms also have a presence in troubled Afghanistan.
"There are lots of rich people in China who have businesses in Europe, Africa, everywhere," said Borges, an imposing presence in his black uniform and beret. "They are what we would call, in professional language, soft targets."
GSA's founder Chen Yongqing is a former PLA member and learned bodyguard techniques in Israel, a world leader in the field. The firm has permission to use part of the army base but it has no other connections with the government or the military.
"The bodyguard market in China is huge, but no one is serving it," Chen said. "Lots of Chinese businesspeople have been injured abroad, but it shouldn't be a problem for our company to protect them."
The three-week basic bodyguard course costs 28,600 yuan (US$4,600), and those who pass are flown to Israel for advanced weapons training, Chen said.
The school is known for its tough regime, sometimes carried out in snowy fields or the strength-sapping heat of tropical beaches.
"The situations our bodyguards could face in Israel, or Libya, will be more harsh than they can imagine, so they need to experience that harshness during training," Chen said.
Wang Wenwen, 22, one of several women training at the academy, has no doubts about her choice of profession.
"The training is a torture, but I can still take it," she said.
"Women have certain advantages... your opponent will overlook you, and you can grab a pen from a desk and stab it here," she said, pointing at her neck. "It has a high rate of success."
GSA declined to specify how many bodyguards it had trained, but said it had sent personnel to the US, Europe and South America, and the school's graduates can also be recruited by other firms looking to protect Chinese interests overseas.
"We are not polite any more... we are only efficient," declares Marco Borges - his words rapidly translated into Chinese.
But despite their dark uniforms and heavy black boots these are not the latest recruits to some new unit of China's People's Liberation Army.
Instead, the roughly 40-strong group, mostly with previous military experience, are on a commercial training course to become elite bodyguards to protect Chinese firms abroad.
The best will be recruited by the school's sister company, Genghis Security Advisor, which offers protection for China's wealthiest citizens from attacks and kidnapping at home and abroad.
Chinese citizens have been targeted by hostage-takers in Pakistan and Indonesia to as far-flung countries like Nigeria and Sudan. Chinese resource firms also have a presence in troubled Afghanistan.
"There are lots of rich people in China who have businesses in Europe, Africa, everywhere," said Borges, an imposing presence in his black uniform and beret. "They are what we would call, in professional language, soft targets."
GSA's founder Chen Yongqing is a former PLA member and learned bodyguard techniques in Israel, a world leader in the field. The firm has permission to use part of the army base but it has no other connections with the government or the military.
"The bodyguard market in China is huge, but no one is serving it," Chen said. "Lots of Chinese businesspeople have been injured abroad, but it shouldn't be a problem for our company to protect them."
The three-week basic bodyguard course costs 28,600 yuan (US$4,600), and those who pass are flown to Israel for advanced weapons training, Chen said.
The school is known for its tough regime, sometimes carried out in snowy fields or the strength-sapping heat of tropical beaches.
"The situations our bodyguards could face in Israel, or Libya, will be more harsh than they can imagine, so they need to experience that harshness during training," Chen said.
Wang Wenwen, 22, one of several women training at the academy, has no doubts about her choice of profession.
"The training is a torture, but I can still take it," she said.
"Women have certain advantages... your opponent will overlook you, and you can grab a pen from a desk and stab it here," she said, pointing at her neck. "It has a high rate of success."
GSA declined to specify how many bodyguards it had trained, but said it had sent personnel to the US, Europe and South America, and the school's graduates can also be recruited by other firms looking to protect Chinese interests overseas.
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