INDO-PACIFIC China: Elevating the Status and Role of the People’s Armed Police Force OE Watch Commentary: During the 17th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress, officials submitted a draft amendment on China’s Law on the People’s Armed Police Force (PAP). The amendment seeks to boost the scope of responsibilities of the PAP, place it under centralized command, and obtain more resources. The accompanying two extracts from articles published in Global Times and South China Morning Post respectively, discuss the proposed changes (which are pending approval as of mid-May), and some of the motivations behind them. According to the first article, the scope of responsibility of the PAP, which previously had covered domestic affairs, such as rescue, disaster relief, and anti- terrorism, will now extend to maritime law enforcement. The PAP, which the report states fell under the State Council until 2018, when it was consolidated with China’s Coast Guard, will now fall under a command held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission, both of which are chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping. A squad of the People’s Armed Police stands in formation in the courtyard of the Forbidden City, in Beijing, PRC in 2007. The second article points out that the PAP controls the country’s coast guard, and Source: BrokenSphere via Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:People%27s_Armed_ that China’s move to boost the power of the PAP and the role of the coastguard in Police_squad_2.JPG, CC-BY-SA 3.0 maritime law enforcement come amid renewed tensions with neighboring states in the South China Sea. The amendment calls for the armed police to join a national intelligence-sharing network and to get more funding “commensurate with its duties and development.” As the second article mentions, the amendment is aimed at giving the party more control over the armed police, which now has more important duties than it did in the past. This is consistent with other steps China has been taking over the past five years toward the modernization and restructuring of its armed forces. End OE Watch Commentary (Hurst) “The amendment aimed to give the party more control over the armed police, which had more important duties than in the past.”

Source: Zhang Han, “China’s Armed Police to Join Maritime Law Enforcement: Draft Amendment,” Global Times, 27 April 2020. http:// www.globaltimes.cn/content/1186904.shtml

China’s Armed Police to Join Maritime Law Enforcement: Draft Amendment A draft amendment to China’s Law on the People’s Armed Police Force (PAP) has added sections about organization and command, and extended the troops’ scope of responsibilities to cover domestic affairs as well as maritime law enforcement… The main addition in the amendment is a new chapter on “Organization and Command,” and the chapter “Missions and Duty” was divided into two chapters, “Mission” and “Function and Power.” In the reforms, command of the PAP is jointly held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission. The status of the armed police force was no longer subordinate to the State Council, China’s cabinet, as of 2018, when China reformed the dual command structure. In March 2018, civilian functions like armed police gold force, forestry and public security forces (border control and firefighting) were severed from the PAP, and the China Coast Guard was consolidated with PAP.

Source: Kristin Huang, “Beijing Seeks Boost for Armed Police, Coastguard as Tensions Rise in South China Sea,” South China Morning Post, 27 April 2020. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3081789/beijing-seeks-boost-armed-police-coastguard-tensions-rise- south

Beijing Seeks Boost for Armed Police, Coastguard as Tensions Rise in South China Sea China is moving to boost the power of its armed police and the role of its coastguard in maritime law enforcement at a time of renewed tensions with its neighbors in the South China Sea. China’s 1.5 million-strong armed police is a paramilitary force mainly responsible for internal security, riot control, anti-terrorism, law enforcement and protecting maritime rights. The country’s coastguard, whose vessels are increasingly seen in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, is controlled by the armed police. The amendment seeks to move the armed police directly under the command of the Communist Party’s Central Committee as well as the Central Military Commission (CMC), both of which are chaired by President Xi Jinping. It has been under CMC control since 2017. It calls for a more efficient organizational and command system, and for the armed police to join a national intelligence-sharing network. The armed police would also get more funding “commensurate with its duties and development”, according to the report. The revision now awaits review and approval by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Peng Peng, vice-president of the Guangdong System Reform Research Society, a think tank, said the amendment aimed to give the party more control over the armed police, which had more important duties than in the past.

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