Increase in police presence noted in Beijing

BEIJING , May 13 (UPI) -- Armed police patrol vehicles, described by officials as a deterrent to terrorists, are increasingly seen in the streets of Beijing following attacks across China.

The capital city has deployed more than 1,300 armed police officers and 150 vehicles, a visible preventive measure after a series of bombings and knife attacks in Chinese rail stations.

Five were killed and dozens injured in October 2013 when members of China's Uyghur minority crashed a vehicle in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. In March, 29 people were killed and 130 injured in knife attacks in Kunming. Three were killed in the city of Urumqi in April, and six more injured in Guangzhou several days later. There has also been a crackdown on dissent and the detention of human rights activists, in preparation for the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

The security presence is an example of tactics advocated by Guo Shenkun, China's Minister of Public Security.

"We should keep the pressure on and dare to strike heavy blows...and firmly foil such plans before they become realities," he told the state-run newspaper People's Daily.