Complex sentence: In the People's Republic of China, the Special Police Units are like US SWAT teams, fulfulling duties that normal patrol cannot handle; e.g., riot control and hostage-situations.
Split into simpler sentences: In the People's Republic of China, the Special Police Units are their local equivalent of US SWAT teams. They are tasked with duties that normal patrol officers are not sufficiently equipped to handle, such as riot control and hostage-situations.