[軍事一瞥]中國頒佈法律明確武警職責

China Clarifies Police Role Ahead Of 60th Ann

China formally authorized paramilitary forces to handle riots, terrorist attacks and other social disturbances under a law passed Thursday, reflecting the government's heightened concerns with stability ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1.

The law, which takes effect immediately, provides a legal framework for activities the People's Armed Police have long engaged in. Last month, the force played a prominent role in quelling riots in Xinjiang, the far-west region where Muslim Uighurs clashed with Han Chinese, killing at least 197 people.

China has been taking steps to increase security ahead of the important 60th anniversary, for which Beijing is planning large celebrations. The Xinjiang unrest added to fears that anniversary celebrations could be disrupted by groups opposing the government. This week, President Hu Jintao made his first trip to Xinjiang since the riots, where he urged security forces to maintain stability in the restive region.

Normally, new laws are subject to at least three readings by China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, before they are passed. The armed-police law was passed after only the second reading during the legislature's bimonthly meeting this week.

Under the legislation, county-level governments will no longer be authorized to call up the armed police. Instead, the mobilization and deployment of armed police will be centralized and fall under new rules to be issued by the State Council and Central Military Commission. The change is an apparent attempt at preventing small protests from escalating into confrontations between villagers and paramilitary forces, whose presence would sometimes inflame tensions.

The law also aims to add greater procedural protections for citizens, prohibiting illegal searches, seizures and arbitrary detentions by the armed police and explicitly ordering them not to cover up crimes.

The People's Armed Police was established in 1982 as an internal security force to protect politicians, infrastructure and resources and currently has about 680,000 members, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

根據週四剛剛通過的一項法律，中國正式授權武警依法處置暴亂，恐怖襲擊和其他社會騷亂，顯示政府越來越擔心今年10月1日國慶60週年前夕的穩定問題。


中國武警總部司令部辦公室主任拓成祥這項立即生效的人民武裝警察法爲武警長期以來執行的任務提供了法律依據。上個月武警部隊在平息新疆暴亂的過程中扮演了重要角色。在這次暴亂中，信仰伊斯蘭教的維吾爾族與漢族發生衝突，造成至少197人死亡。

中國已經開始採取措施加強治安，爲即將到來的國慶60週年的盛大慶典作準備。新疆暴亂增加了對反政府分子擾亂國慶慶典的擔憂。本週國家主席胡錦濤在暴亂後第一次視察新疆，敦促安全部門要維護好這一敏感地區的穩定。

正常情況下新出臺的法律須由中國最高立法機構全國人民代表大會審閱至少三次後方可通過。但人民武裝警察法被審閱兩次後就在本週人大兩月一次的例會上通過了。

根據該法律，縣級政府不再有權召集武裝警察部隊。武裝警察的動員和調度權將被集中起來，置於國務院和中央軍委即將頒佈的新規定之下。這一變化顯然是爲防止小規模抗議演變成村民和武警之間的衝突，因爲武警的出現有時候會使緊張局勢升級。

這項法律也意在加強對公民的程序性保護，防止武警非法搜查、拘捕和任意拘禁，並明確不得隱瞞自身的違法亂紀行爲。

根據中國國家通訊社新華社的報道，中國人民武裝警察部隊創立於1982年，是一支內部安全部隊，用來保護領導人，基礎設施和資源。目前共有68萬官兵。