Despite the numbers-reduction trend in the armed services over recent years, the military police will greatly expand the ability of the service's sole special-services unit to handle anti-terror tasks, according to the military police's command.
The unit, known as the Special Services Company (SSC), is the military's only anti-terrorism force and has seldom been exposed to the public since its inauguration 25 years ago.
The SSC's anti-terrorism role will be widened in the years to come as the unit grows beyond the size of a company.
Military police commander Lieutenant General Yu Lien-fa (余連發) announced the plan on Tuesday during an informal meeting with the press at the military police's headquarters in Taipei.
Yu did not reveal, however, to what extent the SSC will be expanded. The expansion plan is still on the drawing board and will not be implemented until the next wave of the military's personnel-streamlining drive, code-named the "Chingchin Project," is launched in 2004.
Yu also announced that the military police plans to shed 1,200 troops as part of the Chingchin project, the objective of which is to cut the total amount of military personnel from the current 380,000 to 300,000 by 2007.
Although the military police will shed only 1,200 personnel, the figure is high compared to other units in percentage terms because the unit is relatively small. The military police currently have just over 10,000 troops.
Yet, the unit still plans to expand the SSC, in line with the anti-terrorism trend that has spread over the globe spreading since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the US.
The SSC was inaugurated in 1977 and is one of the most secretive forces of the military. It was not exposed to the public until two years ago. The SSC was initially tasked with terminating plane hijackings and other acts of terrorism. It was also tasked with counter-insurgency but its tasks have been simplified to counter-terrorism.
It was originally designed by the KMT-led government as a tool to suppress public gatherings launched by political dissidents, but it remains a mystery whether the unit had ever been put to such use.
Now that many of the political dissidents who used to be persecuted by the KMT-controlled government have become the leaders of the government, including President Chen Shui-bian (
But this embarrassing situation was deflated when President Chen selected one of his most trusted generals to head the unit, which in the previous dispensation acted as the president's personal force.
Lieutenant General Yu, a native Taiwanese, is the man whom Chen entrusted with the command of the unit.
Yu's promotion to the position was not welcomed, however, by the other generals who are of mainland origin, officials said.
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