Law enforcement officials plan for massive turnout for Chinese president's visit
By MIKE ANDERSON Tribune-Herald staff writer
Local law enforcement officials said they will have their hands full with thousands of people expected in the Waco area today for President George W. Bush's meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
Waco Police Chief Alberto Melis said today's event will rival August's economic forum at Baylor University in the demands it will make on law enforcement. Waco police dedicated at least 160 officers to the Baylor event, costing more than $27,000 in overtime.
Melis said Waco officers will be needed for security during Jiang's arrival this morning at Texas State Technical College airport and during expected motorcades traveling through the city to and from the Crawford ranch.
Bush arrived at the ranch Thursday night.
Causing concern for law enforcement are at least three groups planning to gather both at TSTC and Crawford to protest Jiang's visit. Of all the groups, the spiritual movement Falun Gong is expected to have the largest presence. The group, also known as Falun Dafa, claims the Chinese government under Jiang has arrested, tortured and killed practitioners since labeling the group a cult in 1999.
Crawford Police Chief Donnie Tidmore said he was told by Falun Gong representatives to expect between 1,500 and 2,000 members to gather in his city this morning. Falun Gong members have told the Tribune-Herald that several hundred more will be at TSTC when Jiang's plane arrives.
Tidmore said he is also expecting a group of about 200 protesters advocating independence for Taiwan early in the day.
At least a third group, which includes people arrested during the 1989 student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, plans to be in Crawford. Shengde Liam, who described himself as one of the leaders during the 1989 protest, said he was arrested and jailed for two years for participating.
Shengde said he and 60 others will protest Bush's meeting with Jiang.
"Jiang is a dictator responsible for crimes against the people of China," he said. "His hands are filled with blood, and (Bush) should not get bloody by shaking them."
Large groups are also expected to welcome Jiang. At least 1,000 people from the Dallas area will travel in a caravan of 19 buses and six vans. Five hundred supporters are going to TSTC and 500 to Crawford.
Jim Grigsby, a deacon at Waterview Church of Christ in Richardson, said 300 Chinese members of his congregation plan to make the trip, which he said was organized by the Chinese embassy.
Several members of the Baylor University Chinese Student and Scholars Association are also expected to join in the welcome at TSTC.
"We are very glad that we will have the chance to see (Jiang)," said association President Maggie Vasut. "To us, he represents China itself, so we are very excited to see him. We hope the relationship between China and the United States will get better and better after this meeting."
Both Tidmore and TSTC Public Safety Chief Donny Harland said two areas will be set up in an attempt to separate those welcoming Jiang from those protesting. Harland said neither group will be allowed near the TSTC airport while the Chinese delegation is present. During that time, all roads within the campus will be closed, and officers from multiple area law enforcement departments will help with security, he said.
Tidmore said protesters will be directed to the parking lot near the high school football stadium. He said those welcoming the president will gather near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 185 and State Highway 317. Officers with both the McLennan County Sheriff's Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety, among others, will assist with security in Crawford as well as Waco, he said.
Grigsby, who will be among the supporters in Crawford, said he does not expect the groups to clash with each other.
"All of our group are supporters — we aren't protesting against the protesters," he said. "We have nothing to do with the protesters. Besides, everything I have heard about (Falun Gong) tells me their protests are peaceful."
Melis, who also said he had no reason to believe protests would turn violent, said Chinese officials requested early on that Waco police rein in protesters.
"They basically wanted the protesters where the Chinese president wouldn't see them," he said. "We couldn't agree to that. We guarantee safety. We don't control what the protesters have to say. We didn't do that for George Bush when people protested him."
Tidmore said people are only allowed to protest in Crawford if they have a permit. The only groups that got permits were Falun Gong and the Taiwanese independence group. He said he had heard of other groups that might come to Crawford that had not been sanctioned.
On Thursday, Tidmore got a taste of the unexpected when a caravan of buses loaded with 300 protesters tried first to go to the ranch and then to gather in the middle of Crawford.
Tidmore said the group, which was trying to draw the president's attention to the nation's poor and homeless, did not have a protest permit. He told the protesters they would have to leave, which they did after one member was allowed to mail a letter to the president at the Crawford post office.
"This goes to show you, despite what you may do, there is an unknown element," he said. "We have tried to keep an open line of communication with these groups for a month, but there's always that unknown element."
Mike Anderson can be reached at manderson@wacotrib.com or 757-5755. Email this page to a friend By using this service you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement. Registered site users, to edit your personal profile, click here. © 2002 Cox Newspapers, Inc. The Waco Tribune-Herald and Cox Interactive Media Privacy Policy | About this site | Write to us
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