No OJ in BJ: Beijing to be ready for high-speed chases

Do you remember where you were on June 17, 1994 -- the day that O.J. Simpson was involved in one of the greatest high-speed (or was it low-speed?) car chases of all time? We're sure that most of you Americans out there do -- and what better way to celebrate this historic event than with a bonded nickel souvenir statue? More to the point: The Olympics are only two years away, and the Beijing cops are undergoing all kinds of special training for this event, much of it which involves possible high-speed chase scenarios:

The training, which started last year, includes changing direction at high speeds and U-turns, the report said, citing the Beijing Public Security Bureau.

After the training, police will practice their skills around the Olympic venues, it said.

Currently, the opportunities for high speed chases are limited somewhat by the daily traffic jams that frustrate the soaring number of car owners in the city of 15 million.

We're sure these "limited opportunities" have already been duly noted by the terrorists. But even if they try to plot their attacks before or after rush hour, the Beijing police will be ready:

Last month, the government announced more than 40,000 police officers were being trained to handle potential terrorist attacks. The training includes instruction in foreign languages such as English, French, German and Arabic.

We've always felt safe around multilingual people.