Guarded by the best

An ex-Kosovo peacekeeper makes her mark at Expo, Wang Zhenghua reports.

For Yang Jiong, her job at the Expo 2010 Shanghai is no less demanding than her peacekeeping role in Kosovo six years ago.

Since February 2008, when Yang was transferred to the Expo's Security Department from a local police bureau, the veteran peacekeeper has been dedicating herself to the event. So much so that she has been working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

"During busy periods, there would be dozens of unanswered phone calls if I put my cell phone away and took a five-minute break," said the 31-year-old officer.

And many those unanswered phone calls would come from anxious foreign Expo participants reporting their concerns about security issues to the organizers or having their problems resolved by Yang, who is the security liaison officer at the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

"It's never an easy job," said Yang, whose duties in the Expo Garden vary from arranging special Expo passes for temporary staff of foreign participants, to helping address security issues at pavilions.

"But it is something I love and I got all the support I need from my family," she said.

Yang, whose parents were both police officers, is one of the about 10,000 security staff working at Expo every day.

Thanks to their efforts, the Expo has remained safe despite many believing it would face tougher security challenges than the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games because of its six-month duration and huge number of visitors, estimated at 70 million.

Yang's experience as a peacekeeper in Kosovo - when she slept with a pistol under her pillow - has made her special among the Expo security staff.

In 2004, Yang and 11 others from Shanghai were selected for the 14-month mission in the disputed territory in the Balkans.

Yang was the first female peacekeeper from Shanghai. She was given the job as assistant to a local police bureau chief. She later worked for a department dedicated to protecting the welfare of women and children.

"In those days, we had to face hazards, including racial conflicts, social instability and shortage of daily needs such as electricity and clean water," Yang said.

"We also got used to hearing sporadic gunshots," she said.

But the adversity faced in Kosovo has equipped the Shanghainese officers with independence, the ability to communicate with strangers, and to combat loneness and other hardships.

"The experience enhanced my capability to deal with the pressure," said Yang, explaining her ability to handle long hours of work at the Expo, where she has worked seven days a week and has not had a holiday since February.

"The Expo is a once-in-a-lifetime event," she said. "I am glad I am part of it."

(China Daily 08/27/2010 page)