Non-Distinction Between Military and Police：War Mentality Will Bring Disaster to All the People
China Times Editorial, April 27, 2023
As cross-strait tensions intensify, the National Police Administration (NPA), Ministry of the Interior (MOI), will train 5,500 young police officers to receive militarized combat training and expand its “Second Special Police Corps” into a so-called "Second Army," although the Executive Yuan and MOI have emphasized that the police will never engage in military work or operations. However, Mayor Hou Yu-ih of New Taipei, a veteran police officer who experienced many round-ups of major criminals, still questions that the legal positions, functions, and roles of the police and the military are completely different and the government has the responsibility to clarify the overall national defense policy so that the people can feel at ease, instead of launching a disguised police-soldier policy. Obviously, statements by the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen cannot resolve the doubts from all walks of life.
Police to Serve as Soldiers: Role Confusion
To examine the training subjects planned by the NPA, we first look at the six subjects being taught, which include training in using various weapons, live grenade throwing, small unit combat, basic close combat skills, urban limited-space combat, and urban-warfare shooting. The seed instructors must have 160 hours of training. Because most of the subjects and the use of weapons are new to police officers, and even the NPA’s special security units have not touched upon those subjects, the relevant courses will be guided by military personnel. This is why the general public believes that this move is for the establishment of the "Second Army," making a transition from peacetime to wartime.
A few days ago, during the People's Liberation Army (PLA) navy patrols and military exercises circling Taiwan, our navy teamed up with the patrol ships of the Coast Guard to monitor the PLA ships. This is when the Coast Guard came in handy to act as the "Second Navy." However, the Coast Guard has ten thousand personnel from the military, it is still uncertain whether the Coast Guard’s cruisers can cope with the missile and gunfire system required in a sea battle. Now the NPA’s Public Order Corps, who had only received basic pistol shooting and riot training, are required to not only pick up rifles and squad machine guns for close combat, but also to participate in urban warfare. When returning to their original unit to enforce the law afterward the training, there is no guarantee that those police officers will know their roles.
The general public still remembers the Sunflower Student Movement in March 2014. The police dispatched riot police to remove the crowd who occupied the buildings of the Executive Yuan. Su Tseng-chang, then chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai Ing-wen and others led their followers and students to confront the police. Clashes occurred during the eviction, and the police were not only blamed but also sued later by the rioters. After the DPP came to power, it withdrew all charges against the rioters. Wang Chuo-chun, the police chief who enforced the law at that time, had to face lengthy judicial proceedings. The Control Yuan even recently corrected five agencies, including the NPA, for police law enforcement.
If these dedicated public order police who have received military training still have to deal with mass movements, assist in security work in normal routines, and be trained as special forces, they may treat the people on the street as enemies. The general public may suffer before a real war begins.
Take the American police as an example, both their equipment and training tend to be militarized. Their police are trained as "warriors" so they tend to instinctively use force to suppress or eliminate the opponents when facing confrontation or criminals, thus causing the issue of “police violence.” This approach is very different from domestic police training that must be based on the law and the principle of proportionality. Eventually, the police use weapons not only to protect themselves and resolve crises, but also to bring criminals to justice. Even if the methods used by soldiers and policemen in anti-terrorism cases and enhancing the protection of important infrastructure have little difference in tactics, soldiers who are familiar with all kinds of new weapons should be responsible in combatting a large number of powerful enemies in wartime, rather than have the police be used as cannon fodder.
All-Out Mobilization to Invite War?
In recent years, the confrontation between China and the United States has put the Taiwan Strait in danger of war. The United States is concerned that Taiwan’s service time is too short and calls for the establishment of a reserve force with combat capabilities.
Although the Tsai administration has not confirmed that it is under the pressure of the US, it has promoted new types of call-ups, which included extending the call-up time and prolonging the number of years of call-ups for veterans. It also extended the military training service from four months to one year, and even amended the "All-out Defense Mobilization Readiness Act" to control the media and reporters. All students over the age of 16, regardless of gender, have to be registered for mobilization. The Tsai administration’s promotion of national defense has turned into a war for all people. It has caused controversy nationwide.
Unexpectedly, the Ministry of National Defense could not recruit the amount of troops needed. This, paired with the fact that the prolonged military training service will not start until 2024, the initial supply of troops is certainly unable to meet the need in the short term under the pressure of declining birth rates. Therefore, it was reported early this year that the Executive Yuan requested the NPA to set up a new “Eighth Protection Corps” to safeguard important national infrastructure such as power plants, oil depots, reservoirs, and airports. However, the NPA resisted. They believed that the treatment and benefits of the police are different from those of the soldiers, and the purpose of being a policeman is also different from that of a soldier. Establishing a new unit within the NPA was not feasible due to the difficulty of recruiting young men. Therefore, a compromise plan to expand NPA’s “Police 2nd Public Order Corps” to do the job came about.
The Tsai administration has turned to training special police units as an option to meet its need of increasing troop numbers. The reason is that the police recruitment is sufficient now, and the cadets can get started quickly with basic shooting drills. The “Seed Training Plan” is scheduled to start in May, and the NPA has so far remained silent. It is not difficult to see that although the policemen are highly obedient, they hate to be forced to take the “police-soldier” initiative.
The NPA is now recruiting tactical teachers as seed instructors. Whether it is to train the police to become soldiers or prepare for war, we the people should oppose it, because the main actors in war are the soldiers. Once the police become soldiers, the people will suffer in both peacetime and wartime. The wider the range, the deeper the suffering. Cross-strait peace is the wish of the people. The government should use non-military means to reduce hostility, instead of turning everyone into soldiers. This could be a move that invites a war.
From: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20230427005355-262101