[军事一瞥]中国颁布法律明确武警职责

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.

根据周四刚刚通过的一项法律，中国正式授权武警依法处置暴乱，恐怖袭击和其他社会骚乱，显示政府越来越担心今年10月1日国庆60周年前夕的稳定问题。


中国武警总部司令部办公室主任拓成祥这项立即生效的人民武装警察法为武警长期以来执行的任务提供了法律依据。上个月武警部队在平息新疆暴乱的过程中扮演了重要角色。在这次暴乱中，信仰伊斯兰教的维吾尔族与汉族发生冲突，造成至少197人死亡。

中国已经开始采取措施加强治安，为即将到来的国庆60周年的盛大庆典作准备。新疆暴乱增加了对反政府分子扰乱国庆庆典的担忧。本周国家主席胡锦涛在暴乱后第一次视察新疆，敦促安全部门要维护好这一敏感地区的稳定。

正常情况下新出台的法律须由中国最高立法机构全国人民代表大会审阅至少三次后方可通过。但人民武装警察法被审阅两次后就在本周人大两月一次的例会上通过了。

根据该法律，县级政府不再有权召集武装警察部队。武装警察的动员和调度权将被集中起来，置于国务院和中央军委即将颁布的新规定之下。这一变化显然是为防止小规模抗议演变成村民和武警之间的冲突，因为武警的出现有时候会使紧张局势升级。

这项法律也意在加强对公民的程序性保护，防止武警非法搜查、拘捕和任意拘禁，并明确不得隐瞒自身的违法乱纪行为。

根据中国国家通讯社新华社的报道，中国人民武装警察部队创立于1982年，是一支内部安全部队，用来保护领导人，基础设施和资源。目前共有68万官兵。