China has 260,000 armed police on guard every day

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-20 14:14

China has more than 260,000 armed police who patrol its borders and guard key facilities around the country every day, the latest national defense white paper says.

According to the white paper of China's National Defense in 2008 released Tuesday, China is still confronted with long-term, complicated and diverse security threats and challenges.

The major task of the People's Armed Police Force(PAPF) is to safeguard national security, maintain social stability and ensure that the people live and work in peace and contentment.

In 2007, the armed police force helped arrest more than 28,000 criminal suspects in China. On an average year, the armed police force thwarts dozens of attempted attacks on guarded targets, prevents hundreds of escape attempts by detained suspects and imprisoned convicts, performs thousands of important temporary duties and ensures the security of large-scale events such as national and international conferences.

More over, the Armed Police Force plays a key role in handling public emergencies, including quenching the "March 14" riots in Lhasa in 2008, hunting down the "East Turkistan" terrorists, accident rescues, large-scale mass disturbances and other various emergencies.

According to the white paper, the border security force under the PAPF has arrested 4,400 illegal border-crossers, seized 3,806 kilograms of drugs and 620 million yuan worth of smuggled goods, cracked 19,205 criminal cases and handled 60,063 violations of public security since 2007.

The People's Armed Police Force is part of China's armed forces, together with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Second Artillery Force (strategic missile force). It is under the dual leadership of the State Council and the Central Military Commission(CMC), while China's police is under the authority of the Ministry of Public Security.

For example, the PAPF border security force has 30 contingents in various provinces. More over, it has 110 prefecture-level detachments, 20 prefecture-level marine police detachments, 310 county-level groups, 1,691 township-level border policy substations in border and coastal areas, as well as 207 active-duty border inspection stations at open ports, 46 frontier inspection stations on major border routes and 113 mobile groups deployed in important sections along China's borders.

The white paper notes that traditional and non-traditional security threats and domestic and international security issues are now interwoven and interactive.

Besides its role in routine guard duties and handling public emergencies, China's armed police force has become an important counter-terrorism force.

According to the white paper, China's armed police force and Russia's Internal Troops staged their first joint counter-terrorism exercise in September 2007. The armed police force has sent delegations to over 30 countries for bilateral or multilateral counter-terrorism exchanges. It has also sent delegations or personnel to attend training courses, observe contests and conduct technique exchanges in a dozen countries.

Meanwhile, the armed police force played host to delegations from 17 countries in counter-terrorism exchanges.