Police expands foreign language services

The Beijing Public Security Bureau and Beijing Foreign Studies University are working together to launch a program aimed at providing more comprehensive foreign language options for emergency calls in Beijing, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to the report, emergency calls to the police can currently be taken in eight languages, including English, Russian and French. The program, which will rely on trained volunteers, aims to add a further four languages, including Hindi, Thai and Vietnamese.

Emergency calls received will be handled through simultaneous interpretation between the emergency call takers, the police officers that will be dispached, and the Beijing Multilingual Service Center.