January 6, 2026:
China has committed to training of thousands of foreign police in a series of well publicized events. These include instruction of protective services, counterterrorism, gendarmerie and paramilitary forces. China has been doing this since 2000 and is providing training in 138 countries. Most of these nations have already received training or are scheduled to receive in the near future. China considers this an exercise in soft power, foreign policy and international cooperation.
About the same time China began providing training for foreign peacekeepers and foreign peacekeeping police. Countries bordering China receive more of this training. This improves Chinese security and diplomatic relations.
Most training concentrates on anti-crime training and counter-drug investigation as well as assistance in creating government security organizations like the Central African Republic’s presidential guard and the Black Berets in Cuba. Another subject is how to carry out repression and state sponsored violence. So far, there have been nearly 900 training events. The program plans to train 20,000 police officers over the next five years.
China obtains instructors from its own police force. The 660,000 personnel of the Chinese PAP/People's Armed Police exist to take care of emergencies, and they tend to be kept busy with the thousands of demonstrations held each year. While there are about 1.4 million local police, for emergencies you call the PAP. The history of the PAP is a confusing one. The People's Armed Police were created in 1982. In fact, a lot of demobilized PLA troops have been incorporated into the PAP since its creation. The PAP’s ancestor was the Peoples Public Security Force, established in 1949 after the creation of the communist government in China. However, it was disbanded during the 1960s Cultural Revolution and its duties transferred to the PLA/People's Liberation Army. After the Cultural Revolution the government decided that the PLAs primary duties should be the national defense of the country. So frontier police units were moved to the Ministry of Public Security, the same ministry that oversees the civilian Chinese police.
The PAP is rigidly organized, like most of Communist China's military and police organizations, with a national headquarters in Beijing and local headquarters in every province of the country. Another confusing aspect of the PAP is that it is under the authority of two different bodies; the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of Public Security, which also manages the regular police forces. Within the PAP, a number of different types of units exist each with their own distinct missions, some of them military-oriented and some law enforcement-oriented. These units are internal defense units, frontier defense units, fire brigade units, mobilized divisions, commandos, and forest police units.
The internal defense units are basically light infantry units designed to suppress internal threats with force. This would mean anything from putting down demonstrations to fighting armed guerrillas or terrorists. They also guard government buildings and other key facilities throughout the country. The frontier defense troops are also basically light infantry trained along military lines. However, instead of protecting against internal threats, these forces are basically a first line of border defense against attack by a foreign enemy and against other border violations. They also serve an important law enforcement role as they are the equivalent of the American Border Patrol and are involved in seizing cross-border narcotics shipments and other contraband.
PAP units stationed in Beijing are there to protect the central government bureaucracy. Mobile PAP units are organized as mechanized infantry and have been formed in response to the growing threats of rebellion in the Xinjiang province and Tibet. Ethnic minority separatism has long been a problem in China and the Chinese government is determined to keep a lid on it. The Special Police Units are sort of a cross between police SWAT teams and DELTA Force commandos. They are in charge of both counter-terrorism and riot control. Thus, the PAP is, in reality, both a national police force and an extra military ground force to be used for the country's defense.