China's border police turn counsellors

BEIJING: Fighting people smugglers and drug runners is old hat for China's border police who now have a new duty — defusing marital squabbles and other disputes.

Police officials said on Tuesday that the policy — called "love the people, consolidate the borders" — made perfect sense, as a happy populace that trusts the authorities helps make China's frontiers safer.

"It provides a protective screen for the social and economic development of the country in this important strategic period," Chen Weiming, director of the Ministry of Public Security's frontier bureau, said.

The police along China's 22,000-km land border and in coastal areas were involved in everything from advising Inner Mongolian herders on when to get the best prices for wool to sorting out family strife.

That even extended to helping stop a quarrelling couple from seeking divorce. But Chen was tight-lipped about more sensitive topics, such as the flow of asylum seekers from North Korea.