The Republic of China Military Police (ROCMP; Chinese: 中華民國憲兵; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Xiànbīng), referred to informally as the Taiwanese Military Police is a military police force operating under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense of Republic of China (Taiwan). Unlike military police organisations in many other countries, the ROCMP functions as a distinct branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces.
The ROCMP is tasked with the protection of senior government leaders against assassination or capture, the guarding of Taiwan’s critical infrastructure and strategic facilities, and the conduct of counterintelligence operations aimed at identifying and neutralising enemy infiltrators, spies, and saboteurs.
Ku Cheng-lun was the first commander of the military police, serving from November 6, 1931 to November 1940. Under Ku, the ROCMP imitated the Japanese system. Branches were opened across the country, and an intelligence branch was created.
During the Xi'an Incident on December 12, 1936, Zhang Xueliang's troops attacked Huaqing Pool to kidnap Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang was defended by a bodyguard company from the ROCMP 1st Regiment. The kidnappers pursued Chiang and his bodyguards into the mountains and captured him. Only three bodyguards survived. ROCMP reinforcements were interdicted by Zhang's forces. Chiang recognized the ROCMP's loyalty in 1951 by making 12 December "Military Police Day".
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Military Police were often thrust into frontline combat roles for which they were neither specifically trained nor equipped. They fought fiercely during events such as the January 28 Incident of 1932 and the Battle of Nanking in 1937, suffering heavy casualties.
During the Battle of Nanking in December 1937, the 2nd Military Police Instruction Regiment (Chinese: 憲兵教導第二團) fought bravely against Japanese forces and was almost entirely wiped out. Deputy Commander of the Military Police Command, Hsiao Shan-Ling (Chinese: 蕭山令), was killed in action. Japanese accounts later revealed that captured Chinese Nationalist Military Police personnel, identifiable by their white armbands, were frequently summarily executed—a practice similar to that of the Wehrmacht’s treatment of Soviet political commissars during the Second World War. Meanwhile, members of the 2nd Special Police Unit (Chinese: 特警第二隊), operating behind enemy lines, were betrayed by collaborators, resulting in the deaths of Tu Ching-Po (Chinese: 杜靜波) and over a dozen other military police members.
In addition to frontline duties, the Military Police played a major role in operations behind Japanese lines and expanded into intelligence and counterinsurgency roles. They were instrumental in suppressing communist influence within Nationalist territory, including the quelling of an attempted uprising during the New Fourth Army Incident of 1941.
The Military Police also performed vital security duties towards the end of the war, including escorting Japanese delegates during the formal arrangements for the Surrender of Japan in 1945. By the end of the war, the Military Police had grown to include 27 regiments, three independent battalions, and three training regiments.
From September 1945, the Republic of China dispatched Military Police to Japan as part of the Allied Occupation of Japan. On 14 May 1952, the ROC Military Police detachment stationed in Tokyo, led by Captain Li Chien-Wu (Chinese: 李建武), withdrew from Japan and returned to Taiwan aboard the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company's vessel MV Hai Lung (Chinese: 海隴輪).
After 1945, the Military Police played a key role in post-war internal security:
In 1946, the 9th and 16th Military Police Regiments were responsible for safeguarding the National Constituent Assembly in Nanjing.
In 1947, the 4th and 21st Regiments were deployed to Taiwan to suppress the February 28 Incident.
In the same year, tensions between military police and municipal police in Shanghai erupted into the July 27 Shanghai Police-Military Police Incident (Chinese: 上海警憲衝突), resulting in bloodshed and a general strike within the city’s police force.
In 1948, the Military Police continued to provide security during the convening of the First National Assembly.
As the Chinese Civil War intensified, the Military Police maintained a primarily internal security role, guarding key government facilities and protecting senior political leaders. The 7th Company of the 1st Regiment notably participated in the Battle of Kuningtou in Kinmen in 1949, successfully resisting communist landings.
Following the Nationalist retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the ROCMP was reconstituted. On 1 March 1950, the Southeastern Command Post (Chinese: 憲兵司令部東南指揮所) of the ROC Military Police was reorganised into the Military Police Headquarters (Chinese: 憲兵司令部), on Liangzhou Street, Taipei.
Officers and troops from the 1st, 3rd, and 18th Military Police Regiments evacuated from mainland China were integrated with the 4th and 8th Regiments already stationed in Taiwan. This reorganisation led to the establishment of new units, including the 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Regiments, as well as a cadre training class, special services battalion, communications unit, military band, and a high-security intelligence group.
During the early 1950s, ROCMP forces were also involved in overseas operations. In 1954, a detachment was deployed to Korea to retrieve and repatriate over 14,000 Chinese anti-communist exiles following the Korean War, an operation commemorated as "123 Freedom Day".