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Formalizing China’s armed police: the 2009 PAP Law

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Abstract

While the People’s Armed Police (PAP) has existed in China for over 26 years, the force’s operations, powers and duties have never been formally stipulated. On August 27, 2009, the People’s Armed Police Law was passed by the National People’s Congress. The PAP Law, which contains seven chapters and 38 articles, covers the main areas of the tasks and responsibility, duties and power, safeguard measures, discipline and supervision, and legal responsibilities of the force. The implementation of the PAP Law represents a benchmark development in the history of the Chinese policing. It not only signals official recognition of the need to enhance the legitimacy of China’s social control apparatus, but also maps onto a larger developing trend of progressive legalization of Chinese order today. Although the law provides a legal basis for the existence and functions of a force that plays a critical role in China’s security and stability today, some issues about the boundaries of power and procedures of operation for the PAP remain unaddressed. To what extent that this law will improve the legitimacy and subsequently strengthen the performance of the PAP force is an open question.

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Notes

  1. The official website address for Xinhua News is http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/, for People’s Daily is http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/, and for the National People’s Congress is http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/news/.

  2. The newspapers are not available online and published for internal use only (i.e., circulation within the PAP forces) in China. We accessed and reviewed the newspapers at the Mainland Affairs Information and Research Center in Taiwan’s Mainland Affair Council.

  3. We understand that economic and legal scholars have debated the relevance of Weber’s typology to the Chinese context [4, 14]. We argue that the legalization of the PAP force maps closely to some of Weber’s theses about the connections between legal regulation and economics.

  4. As Shuangzhan Wu (the then commander-in-chief of the PAP) mentioned, the new law is based on two existing sources: some broad and generic legal provisions prescribed in related laws including the Military Service Law and the Police Law, and internal rules and regulations on the PAP that were previously unknown to the public. As Wu explained, some political documents that governed the operation and functions of the PAP existed before the new law, although most of them were classified and only known to a small circle of public officials [40].

  5. As one of the reviewers suggested, some of the concerns raised here can be better understood by a careful and thorough research into other relevant laws in China. For example, in terms of accountability, PAP forces, as one of three armed forces in China, are also subjected to such laws as Law of the People’s Republic of China on Officers in Active Service (1988) and Interim Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Punishment of Servicemen Who Commit Crimes Contrary to Their Duties (1982). For PAP troops assigned to the MPS and conduct civil operations (i.e., the Guard Corps, Fire-Fighting, and Border Defense), their activities should be held accountable according to the Regulations on Administration of Use of Guns by Full-time Guards and Escorts (2002), Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China (1987), Fire Control Law of the People’s Republic of China (1998), and Law of the People’s Republic of China on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens (1985). In addition, when the PAP is mobilized during internal security situations, the Martial Law of the People’s Republic of China (1996) provides some specific guidelines over operational authorities and joint PP, PAP, and PLA command and control.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminal Justice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA

    Yuning Wu

  2. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Ivan Y. Sun

  3. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Aaron Fichtelberg

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  1. Yuning Wu
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  2. Ivan Y. Sun
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  3. Aaron Fichtelberg
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Correspondence to Yuning Wu.

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Wu, Y., Sun, I.Y. & Fichtelberg, A. Formalizing China’s armed police: the 2009 PAP Law. Crime Law Soc Change 56, 243–263 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-011-9289-2

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