After the founding of New China, due to cultural, historical, and other reasons, China did not form a military police unit. In the eyes of many, the gendarmerie system is a product of the capitalist countries of the West and does not correspond to the socialist system. However, as a country with a vast territory and a large population, the centralized state system requires a dedicated military subject to maintain social stability. The Chinese People's Armed Police Force (hereinafter referred to as [gf]202c[gf]abbreviated as [gf]202c[gf]armed police force[gf]202c[gf]) is an armed organization whose main tasks are duty, handling social security emergencies, preventing and handling terrorist activities, maritime rights protection and law enforcement, emergency rescue and defense operations.
The People's Armed Police Force is composed of the Internal Guard Corps, the Mobile Corps, the Coast Guard Corps, academies, and scientific research institutions. The internal security forces are mainly responsible for law enforcement functions, including fixed target duty, urban armed patrols, defending important national targets and handling emergencies. The People's Armed Police Force has also set up two mobile corps, namely the First Mobile Corps of the Armed Police Corps, which is headquartered in Shijiazhuang, and the No. 2 Mobile Corps of the Armed Police, which is headquartered in Fuzhou. The Coast Guard Corps is responsible for uniformly performing its maritime rights protection and law enforcement duties. The Coast Guard is currently one of the largest coast guards in the world in terms of the number of ships.
The formation and development of gendarmerie units in different countries and regions have their own historical backgrounds and origins. Some countries' gendarmes are directly inherited from the time-honored tradition of "national gendarmes", such as the French gendarmerie, while others may have been influenced by the "military police" model of countries such as the United Kingdom. The English abbreviation "MP" of Military Police has become the universal symbol of the military police around the world, but different countries also have their own naming methods, such as "Carabinieri" in Italy and "La Guardia Civil" in Spain. The word "gendarmerie" in Chinese originated in Japan, drawing on the influence of the "national gendarmerie" when studying Europe after the Meiji Restoration, and the word gendarmerie was originally a translation of "gendarmerie". Whatever it is called, the core task of the gendarmerie is always to maintain security and stability, as well as to carry out military and law enforcement duties, that is, military forces that enforce the law.
Both the Armed Police and the Gendarmerie have a domestic mandate as their primary function, and in some respects they are similar to the French-style "National Gendarmerie", which exercises partial or full police powers. In China, the armed police power of the armed police force actually has the meaning of part of the police power, and its action is mainly based on domestic laws such as the "National Defense Law" and the "People's Armed Police Law". For example, the Coast Guard may take investigative measures and criminal coercive measures in criminal cases involving maritime incidents. Although the main task of the armed police and the state gendarmerie is to maintain the safety and order of the domestic population, in addition to being responsible for law enforcement, criminal investigation, and counter-terrorism to the public, the state gendarmerie also undertakes the tasks of military discipline and law enforcement within the armed forces.
In accordance with the National Defence Act, the Armed Police assumes defence duties similar to those of the gendarmerie. Although the main task of the armed police and the gendarmerie is to maintain internal security, once the country is at war, the armed police will assume the responsibility for defensive operations, while the gendarmerie will be responsible for coordinated operations, logistical support, and prisoner management. In recent years, both the armed police and the gendarmerie have made strengthening their counter-terrorism and rescue capabilities a top priority. Since the beginning of this century, countries have paid more and more attention to non-traditional security issues, the threat of terrorism has spread and natural disasters have occurred frequently, which have brought great challenges to the security of people's lives and property. Strengthening the counter-terrorism and rescue capabilities of the police and gendarmerie forces has become a key measure to address non-traditional security threats.
The PAPF has some limitations in terms of functional jurisdiction, which is different from the typical gendarmerie functions. Although the People's Armed Police Law provides for certain law enforcement powers, [gf]202c[gf]they are unable to enforce the affairs of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) or directly deal with civil violations or participate in criminal proceedings. Compared with the French-style "national gendarmerie", the law enforcement functions of the armed police force are obviously incomplete. In addition[gf]202c[gf], there is a problem that the functions of the armed police force are not fully consistent with those of the gendarmerie in terms of the composition, jurisdiction and exercise of the functions. Although the People's Armed Police [GF]202C[GF] has a number of police branches and forces, some of which are responsible for law enforcement, while others are engaged in non-law enforcement work in the country's economic construction, making its law enforcement gendarme role incomplete.
In view of the complex social situation and security needs in our country, it is necessary to strengthen the law enforcement force of the Armed Police [GF]202C [GF]. Some scholars have proposed three options: one is to learn from the American model, strengthen the civilian police force and its law enforcement authority, and gradually replace the law enforcement tasks of the armed police force, but this involves complex transitional issues; The second is to learn from the French model, change the armed police force into a "national gendarmerie", give it the same law enforcement authority as the civilian police, and at the same time cancel non-law enforcement functions, but need to solve the problem of coordination between the gendarmerie and the people's police; Third, the armed police force should be retained, its non-law enforcement functions should be abolished, and at the same time, the PLA should establish its own military police detachment and implement a dual-track system of "national military police" and "military police" so as to better perform their respective duties.
Although the armed police assume some of the functions of the gendarmerie, this does not mean that the armed police are equivalent to the gendarmerie. There are obvious differences between the gendarmerie system and the armed police system in terms of organizational structure, functions and tasks, and command system, but they both bear the important responsibility of protecting social stability. These differences reflect the differences in national conditions, political systems and security needs of each country, and also show the diverse solutions of different forces to common challenges in the context of globalization.