POWER OF PUBLIC

While the security level is elevated across the nation, responsibilities of fighting terrorism do not only fall on the shoulders of police officers.

China is mobilizing the resources of the entire nation.

Calling terrorism the common enemy of the people, President Xi Jinping urged the public to build a "wall of bronze and iron" to fight against terrorism.

"(We must) make terrorists become like rats scurrying across a street, with everybody shouting 'beat them!'" Xi said at a group study session on national security and social stability by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in April.

As a latest show of public power, about 300,000 volunteers in Shanghai were mobilized to help safeguard security at the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia that was held on May 20 and 21.

Such massive mobilization occurred during the 2008 Olympics where residents wearing sleeve emblems worked to help professional forces to guard against any possible terrorist threats.

On May 15, 17 retired soldiers formed an anti-terrorism unit in Luohu District, Shenzhen City to protect the security of their community.

"We formed the team to echo the government's call to fight against terrorism," said unit head Huang Jianming. "We will work 24 hours a day to ensure we can reach incident sites within 10 minutes."

The unit members hope they become an important force of fighting terrorists and maintaining stability of their hometown.

Zhang Xianrui, a legislator of the National People's Congress, said the public should not be too afraid of terrorists as they also have weaknesses.

As long as the public and the police unite to form a comprehensive and strong monitoring network, terrorist violence can be prevented and eliminated, Zhang said.

While the war on terrorism is waged, experts also warned against infringement on people's civil rights as state powers, if unlimited, could harm people's legitimate rights.

Liu Renwei, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said some state organs can be granted special rights in emergencies to tackle terrorist attacks effectively, but people's rights including freedom of expression and privacy should also be protected.

"This will be a hard test for the authorities during the war on terrorism," he said.