China has stationed anti-terror troops to defend the massive Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River against terror attacks.
The troops - equipped with helicopters, tanks and bomb disposal robots - are elite graduates of paramilitary People's Armed Police training programmes who specialise in counterterrorism, state television reported.
The deployment is the last step in a "comprehensive anti-terrorism network" that China has constructed at major bridges, dams and power stations, the report said.
The extra defences are China's response to perceived threats both from terrorists and from other countries, the report said. It cited a "clearly rising threat from the United States" and a military buildup in Japan.
Attackers could conduct pinpoint strikes on strategic locations such as dams, bridges, water control systems and power plants, the report said.
It said damage and injuries resulting from such attacks would be magnified if an attack was staged during the summer flood season.
PA