Protecting Gansu鈥檚 vast grasslands on horses
Print Edition
As the sun rises, a sea of pink clouds surrounds the green grassland, with shadows of a row of mounted police appearing from time to time on the golden horizon. Tse-nga and a dozen of his colleagues start their daily training on horseback.
Chasing, shooting and bayoneting 鈥 two hours of skill training every morning has been Tse-nga鈥檚 鈥渃ompulsory course鈥 for 18 years to better protect about 40,000 local herdsmen in Maqu County in northwest China鈥檚 Gansu Province.
On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an average elevation of 3,500 meters, Maqu once experienced a long, hard time working on public security management, as residents there live in scattered places. In the early 21st century, livestock theft occurred frequently in local pastures and inter-provincial border areas.
In November 2003, the grassland mounted police force was established to carry out security patrols and management on vast grasslands and inter-provincial border areas.
Tents and mountains
Tse-nga, who used to be a soldier, was among the first batch of the grassland mounted police. 鈥淐arrying tents and climbing mountains, we migrated with the herders all year around at first.
鈥淎s thieves were afraid to take the main roads, we had to patrol the rugged and swampy mountain roads ... the safest 鈥榗ars鈥 on the grassland,鈥 he said.
Even after 17 years, Tse-nga can still remember the first case he dealt with. 鈥淥ne night in 2004, a herder came to the tent where we were stationed and reported his more than 50 yaks were stolen. We then chased the suspects to the provincial border overnight and seized the gangster, retrieving the lost 250,000 yuan (US$38,600).鈥
鈥淭he role of the grassland mounted police is obvious and long-lasting,鈥 said Song Wei, a senior official with the public security bureau in Maqu County. 鈥淭hree months after the establishment of the force, the local livestock theft rate reported a yearly decrease of 70 percent.鈥
One afternoon early this month, Tse-nga and his colleague visited herdsman Dukar鈥檚 home to update his family information and knowledge concerning telecom fraud. Last year, the grassland police helped the 41-year-old Tibetan herder find his more than 20 lost yaks.
鈥淭he mounted police are a 鈥榮ymbol of safety鈥 on the grassland,鈥 said Dukar鈥檚 daughter Tsering Lhamo.
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