Republic of China Military Police

Republic of China Military Police
Republic of China Military Police
中華民國憲兵
	Emblem of the Republic of China Military Police
Founded	1914
Country	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Branch	Military police
Size	16,000 (2004 est.); 5,502 (2020 est.)
Part of	National Revolutionary Army (1924-1946); Republic of China Armed Forces (since 1946)
Garrison/HQ	Taipei, Taiwan
Anniversaries	12 December
Engagements	Northern Expedition; Xi'an Incident; Second Sino-Japanese War; Chinese Civil War;
Commanders
Current; commander	Lieutenant-General Mo You Ming
Insignia
Flag
Emblem used

The Republic of China Military Police (ROC MP; historically as the Chinese Military Police, unofficially the Taiwanese Military Police) is a military police body under the Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan. Unlike military police in many other countries, the ROCMP is a separate branch of the ROC Armed Forces. ROCMP is responsible for protecting government leaders from assassination or capture, guarding Taiwan's strategic facilities, and counterintelligence against enemy infiltrators, spies, and saboteurs.^[2]

History

Warlord Era

The origins of the Republic of China Military Police (ROCMP) date back to 1914, when the provisional president of the Republic of China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, established an internal security unit in Canton to enforce military discipline among troops loyal to the Provisional Government. This unit was later renamed the Military Police and gradually expanded into the present-day ROC Military Police.

In 1925, under the supervision of General Chiang Kai-shek, within the structure of the National Revolutionary Army, the Military Police expanded from a single company into a full battalion. The following year, the unit was attached to the Northern Expedition forces. Over the next decade, the Military Police grew into several regiments and were notably active in purging communist elements within the Nationalist government.

Xi'an Incident

On 12 December 1936, while accompanying Chiang Kai-shek on an inspection trip to Sian, members of the Military Police clashed with Chang Hsueh-liang's elite bodyguards during an attempted arrest of the Generalissimo. Caught off guard and outnumbered, the Military Police were overpowered, leading to Chiang and his entourage being detained in what became known as the Xi'an Incident.

Over one hundred Military Police personnel were killed or wounded during the brief skirmish. To honour their actions, Chiang Kai-shek designated 12 December as "Military Police Memorial Day". Although no longer observed as an official public holiday by the Republic of China government, it remains commemorated internally by the Military Police.

Second Sino-Japanese War

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, NRA Military Police frequently found themselves engaged in combat with Japanese forces, despite lacking specialised combat training or equipment. In the January 28 Incident of 1932 and the Battle of Nanking in 1937, Military Police units fought fiercely but suffered heavy casualties.

According to accounts by former Imperial Japanese Army veterans, NRA Military Police (recognisable by their white armbands) were often summarily executed upon capture—similar to the Wehrmacht's execution of Soviet political commissars during the Second World War.

The Military Police were also instrumental in operations behind Japanese lines and expanded further under Nationalist direction. They played a major role in countering communist influences, notably helping to suppress an attempted communist uprising during the New Fourth Army Incident in 1941. Toward the end of the war, they escorted Japanese delegates during the formal arrangements for the Surrender of Japan.

The Republic of China Military Police

Following the outbreak of full-scale civil war in 1946, the Military Police took a more limited role in direct combat. Instead, they focused on protecting key government installations, guarding political leaders, and suppressing civil unrest in newly acquired territories such as Taiwan. After the Nationalist retreat to Taiwan in 1950, the Military Police headquarters were relocated to Taipei.

Taiwan Period

After retreating to Taiwan in 1949, ROCMP units were assigned two main missions in addition to traditional military policing: co-locating with major ROC military units to monitor for potential mutinies, and protecting the central government. Sentry outposts were established on all major bridges and roads leading into Taipei, with orders to destroy them if necessary to safeguard the government.

In 1970, under recommendations from the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group, the ROC Armed Forces underwent a major reorganisation, restructuring all regiments into brigades. On 16 March 1970, the ROC Military Police Command restructured its forces into four regional commands:

201st Regional Command**: Presidential guard unit, derived from the 101st Military Police Regiment.
202nd Regional Command**: Capital garrison unit, from the former 201st MP Regiment.
203rd Regional Command**: Based in Miaoli County, derived from the 202nd MP Regiment.
204th Regional Command**: Based in Tainan City, derived from the 203rd MP Regiment.

Sentry outposts outside Taipei were phased out after the 1990s as political and security conditions changed.

In January 2006, all ten security battalions previously under the Republic of China Air Force were transferred to the Military Police Command, further consolidating internal security operations under ROCMP control.

Functions

From the 2006 National Defense Report, Republic of China Military Police performs

Military functions:
1. special security duties, including presidential protection,
2. counter-terrorism operations,
3. garrison security,
4. enforce military discipline,
5. support military operations,
Supportive functions in civilian affairs:
1. execute military justice and law enforcement missions,
2. maintain public security,
3. adequately support regional disaster prevention,
4. response, and ensure social stability and national security.

Military

ROCMP is responsible for enforcing military law, maintaining military discipline, providing manpower support for the civilian police force, performing combat duty in times of emergency, providing security for certain governmental facilities such as including the Presidential Office Building, and performing counter-terrorism and VIP protection operations. It is also responsible for the defense of Taipei, the capital city and political and financial center of the Republic of China.

Intelligence

Due to traditional and historical reasons, Republic of China Military Police still carry out intelligence missions in six categories of security investigations to fulfill its tasked functions:

Special services for presidential security and protection
Politics
Military
Criminal cases
Foreign affairs
Social order

These security investigations are mainly run by every regional investigation group, the mobile investigation group, and their superior unit, the Intelligence Division of the Military Police Command. The main goal of these six security investigations is centered at the first one: special services for presidential security and protection. More practically, it is to satisfy the request from the Commander in Chief, the ROC President.

While performing its intelligence missions, Republic of China Military Police is submitted to the supervisory and coordination from National Security Bureau of National Security Council.

Law enforcement

In accordance with; Clause 2, Section 1 of Article 229; Clause 2, Section 1 of Article 230; and Clause 2, Section 1 of Article 231 of The Criminal Procedure Code of the ROC, the commissioned and non-commissioned officers, and the enlisted persons of the MP Corps have the authority to assist public prosecutors or to be commanded by prosecutors to investigate crime activities. In the other words, performing the authority of Judicial Police are given by The Criminal Procedure Code of the ROC to the Security MP troops in the regional Military Police units, and it is the same in nature as the police performing the actual criminal investigations. Before the establishment and expansion of the mobile forces of special police corps in the ROC, Military Police troops were the main force to secure and prevent high-profile criminal activities, heavy violence, and frequent society disorders or riots. At present, Military Police troops are still aggressively working with and commanded by the district public procurator systems to investigate criminal cases. The Security MP troops are still one of the important forces that uphold the law and order of society in the Republic of China.

Because of the frequent military personnel rotations and the conscription system in the ROC, people within the regional Military Police units develop relatively fewer ties with local residents, in comparison with the local police departments. Also, the local police departments must answer to the corresponding local elected officials administratively but the regional Military Police units do not. In the cases of prostitution and human slavery, this makes the ROC Military Police the preferred law enforcement unit for the public prosecutors of all levels in the ROC, because of minimal information leakage or less interference from domestic politicians.

In cases of fugitive recovery, some public prosecutors mobilize the military police to handle large-scale searches or arrests because military police can provide massive manpower with good discipline and fewer gang-related interpersonal relationships.

Organization