Ministry of Public Security (China)

The Ministry of Public Security (Chinese: 公安部; pinyin: Gōng'ānbù)[note 1] is a government ministry of the People's Republic of China responsible for public and political security. It oversees more than 1.9 million of the country's law enforcement officers and as such the vast majority of the People's Police (Chinese: 人民警察; pinyin: Rénmín Jǐngchá). The MPS is a nationwide police force, but counterintelligence and political security remain core functions.[1][2][3]

Not to be confused with Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China or National Security Commission of the Chinese Communist Party.

Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国公安部
Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Gōng'ānbù
Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Badge of the People's Police of China

Flag of the People's Police of China
Agency overview
Formed1954 (1954)
Preceding agency
TypeConstituent Department of the State Council (cabinet-level)
Jurisdiction China
HeadquartersBeijing
Employees1.9 million
Ministers responsible
  • Zhao Kezhi, Minister
  • Wang Xiaohong
    Du Hangwei
    Xu Ganlu
    Liu Zhao, Vice-Ministers
  • Sun Xinyang, Leader of the Discipline Inspection & Supervision Team Dispatched from the CCDI & the NSC
  • Feng Yan, Politics Supervisor
  • Chen Siyuan, the Assistant to the Minister
Parent agencyState Council
Child agencies
Websitemps.gov.cn
Politics of China
Leadership
Leadership generations
Succession of power
National leaders
Orders of precedence
Related systems
Communist Party
History
Constitution
Organization
United Front
Historical parties:
Ideology
Legislative
Presidency
Executive
Military
Military history
Supervision
Propaganda
Cross-Strait relations
Foreign relations
Related topics
 China portal

The ministry was established in 1949 (after the Chinese Communist Party's victory in the Chinese Civil War) as the successor to the Central Department of Social Affairs and was known as "Ministry of Public Security of the Central People's Government" until 1954.[4] Grand General Luo Ruiqing of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was its first minister. As the ministry's organization was based on Soviet and Eastern Bloc models, it was responsible for all aspects of national security; ranging from regular police work to intelligence, counterintelligence and the suppression of anti-communist political and societal sentiments.[4][5] Military intelligence affairs remained with the General Staff Department, while the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was active in fomenting revolutionary tendencies worldwide by funneling weapons, money and resources to various pro-CCP movements.[6]

The ministry employs a system of Public Security Bureaus throughout all provinces, cities, municipalities and towns of China. The special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau maintain nominally separate police forces. The ministry is headed by the Minister of Public Security, who is nominated by the Premier of the People's Republic of China and confirmed by the National People's Congress (NPC). Zhao Kezhi has been the current minister since November 2017.

History
See also: Chinese intelligence activity abroad, Chinese espionage in the United States, Operation Fox Hunt, and Operation Sky Net

The Ministry of Public Security was among the first government organs of the PRC. It superseded the Ministry of Public Security of the CCP's Central Military Commission (CMC), a transitional body created in July 1949 by removing the security service remit from the CCP's Central Department of Social Affairs (CDSA). The MPS began operations on 1 November 1949, at the end of a two-week-long National Conference of Senior Public Security Cadres. Most of its initial staff of less than 500 cadres came from the (former) regional CCP North China Department of Social Affairs. At the national level, its creation signaled the formal abolition of the CDSA. The ministry moved to its present location, in the heart of the one-time foreign legation quarters in Beijing, in the spring of 1950.[7]

The MPS's Guangzhou office historically handled foreign spies such as Larry Wu-tai Chin.[1]

With the creation of the Ministry of State Security (MSS) in July 1983, MPS lost much of its counterintelligence personnel and remit.[1] Scholars Jichang Lulu and Filip Jirouš have argued that the establishment of the MSS "may have contributed to the illusion that the MPS is simply a law-enforcement police body, separate from intelligence agencies."[2] According to analyst Alex Joske, "the MPS lost much of its foreign intelligence remit after the MSS's creation, but has established new units for cross-border clandestine operations since then."[1]

Following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the MPS worked to counter Operation Yellowbird.[2]

The MPS and its officers have been active abroad in Operation Fox Hunt and Operation Sky Net.[8][9][10] The MPS under Sun Lijun had reporters from The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong under "full operational surveillance" for their reporting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.[11][1]

In 2017, Europol signed a "strategic cooperation agreement" with the MPS.[12][2] Starting in 2019, the MPS began replacing "domestic security" with "political security" in the names of its units.[2]

List of Ministers
No.NameFromToPremier
1Luo RuiqingOctober 1949September 1959Zhou Enlai
2Xie FuzhiSeptember 1959March 1972Zhou Enlai
3Li ZhenMarch 19721973Zhou Enlai
4Hua Guofeng1973March 1977Zhou Enlai
Hua Guofeng
5Zhao CangbiMarch 1977April 1983Hua Guofeng
Zhao Ziyang
6Liu FuzhiMay 1983August 1985Zhao Ziyang
7Ruan ChongwuSeptember 1985March 1987Zhao Ziyang
8Wang FangApril 1987November 1990Zhao Ziyang
Li Peng
9Tao SijuDecember 1990March 1998Li Peng
10Jia ChunwangMarch 1998December 2002Li Peng
Zhu Rongji
11Zhou YongkangDecember 2002October 2007Zhu Rongji
Wen Jiabao
12Meng JianzhuOctober 2007December 2012Wen Jiabao
13Guo ShengkunDecember 2012November 2017Wen Jiabao
Li Keqiang
14Zhao KezhiNovember 2017IncumbentLi Keqiang


Organization
Headquarters of the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing

The MPS is organized into functional departments (see below). Subordinate to the MPS are the provincial- and municipal-level PSB's (Public Security Bureau) and sub-bureaus at the county and urban district levels. At the grassroots level, finally, there are police stations (Chinese: 派出所; pinyin: Pàichūsuǒ) which serve as the direct point of contact between police and ordinary citizens. While public security considerations have weighed heavily at all levels of administration since the founding of the PRC, the police are perceived by some outside observers to wield progressively greater influence at lower levels of government. Provincial public security bureaus are subject to dual supervision by both local provincial governments and the central government.[13] The ministry is also closely associated with the development of surveillance technologies used by police in China through the Third Research Institute (Chinese: 第三研究所; pinyin: Dì-sān Yánjiūsuǒ; lit. 'No. 3 Research Institute') focused on the development of AI based “smart surveillance,” and censorship technologies.[14]

Departmental structure

At the time of its creation, the Ministry of Public Security had a simple departmental structure comprising one general office and six functional directorates, numbered sequentially and responsible for political security, economic security, public order and administration, border security, armed security, and personnel. Today the ministry is organized into the following departments:

  • Central Office,
  • Supervision,
  • Personnel & Training,
  • Public Relations,
  • Economic Crime Investigation,
  • Public Order Administration,
  • Border Control (see: China Immigration Inspection (CII))
  • Criminal Investigation,
  • Exit & Entry Administration (see: National Immigration Administration (NIA)),
  • Fire Control,
  • State Protection,
  • Public Information Network Security Supervision (Cybersecurity or 11th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security),
  • Penitentiary Administration,
  • Traffic Control,
  • Legal Affairs,
  • International Cooperation,
  • Equipment and Finance,
  • Drug Control,
  • Science & Technology,
  • Counter-terrorism, and
  • Info-communications.
  • Third Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security

Railway, navigation, civil aviation, forestry and anti-smuggling public security departments are under the dual leadership of their superior administration and the MPS.[15]

Public relations

Internal
See also: Internal media of China

The Public Security Construction (《公安建设》) was a classified serial publication for internal purposes.[16] During the disastrous Great Leap Forward between 1958 and 1961, the Public Security Work Bulletin (《公安工作简报》) was a top-secret serial which often described China's serious food shortages, directly contradicting Mao Zedong's promises of "bountiful economic fruit".[17][18] Another periodical People's Public Security (《人民公安》)[note 2] was also produced and classified as "for official use only".[19][20]

External

The MPS' First Bureau operates a front organization called the China Association for Friendship.[2]

Firearms

A decision has been taken to train in the use of sidearms to all frontline MPS personnel since 2006. The 9×19mm double-action revolver manufactured by the China North Industries Corporation[21] are issued to frontline personnel, and officers armed them routinely.

For more firepower, detectives and special units are routinely armed with NP 22 and QSZ-92 semi-automatic pistols. Sub-machine guns, rifles and light machine guns are deployed when more firepower is required.

Handguns
Product list and details
 Make/Model   Type   Origin   Usage since   Main users 
Norinco Type 54  People's Republic of China 1954–1988 Frontline officers (obsolete, mostly phased out by QSZ-92)
Norinco Type 64  People's Republic of China 1980–2008 Detectives & frontline officers(obsolete, mostly phased out by QSW-06)
Norinco 9mm Revolver  People's Republic of China 2006–Present Patrol police
Norinco Type 77  People's Republic of China 1981–Present Detectives
Norinco QSZ-92  People's Republic of China 1996–Present Frontline officers
Norinco QSW-06  People's Republic of China 2006–Present Special forces
Norinco NP 22  People's Republic of China 2015–Present Special forces & detectives
Taurus PT109  Brazil 2014–Present Limited use in guard details
Submachine guns
Product list and details
 Make/Model   Type   Origin   Usage since   Main users 
Norinco Type 79[22]  People's Republic of China 1979–Present Special units
Norinco NR-08  People's Republic of China 2008–Present Special units
Norinco JS 9 mm  People's Republic of China 2006–Present Special units
Rifles
Product list and details
 Make/Model   Type   Origin   Usage since   Main users 
Norinco QBZ-95  People's Republic of China 1997–Present Special units
Norinco QBZ-03  People's Republic of China 2002–Present Special units
Norinco Type 81  People's Republic of China 1983–Present Reserve units
Norinco Norinco CQ  People's Republic of China 1980–Present Some police units, notably Sichuan Police Department and Chongqing SWAT
Shotguns
Product list and details
 Make/Model   Type   Origin   Usage since   Main users 
Norinco Norinco HP9-1  People's Republic of China 2001–Present Patrol Units

See also

Notes
  1. Mandarin pronunciation: [kʊ́ŋ.án.pû]; abbr. from Chinese: 公共安全部; pinyin: Gōnggòng Ānquán Bù; lit. 'Public Security Ministry' Mandarin pronunciation: [kʊ́ŋ.kʊ̂ŋ án.tɕʰɥɛ̌n pû]
  2. Its official English-language title is People's Police.

References

Citations
  1. Joske, Alex (January 25, 2022). "Secret police: The Ministry of Public Security's clandestine foreign operations" (PDF). Sinopsis. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  2. Lulu, Jichang; Jirouš, Filip (February 21, 2022). "Back to the Cheka: The Ministry of Public Security's political protection work" (PDF). Sinopsis. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  3. Schwarck, Edward (July 2018). "Intelligence and Informatization: The Rise of the Ministry of Public Security in Intelligence Work in China". The China Journal. 80: 1–23. doi:10.1086/697089. ISSN 1324-9347. S2CID 149764208.
  4. Guo, Xuezhi (2012). "From the Social Affairs Department to Ministry of Public Security". China's Security State: Philosophy, Evolution, and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 64–105. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139150897.003. ISBN 978-1-139-15089-7. OCLC 1277069527.
  5. Schoenhals, Michael (2012). Spying for the People: Mao's Secret Agents, 1949–1967. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139084765. ISBN 978-1-139-08476-5. OCLC 1030095349.
  6. Directorate of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency (December 1971). "Intelligence Report: The International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  7. Wang Zhongfang, "Gonganbu shi zemyang chenglide," in Zhu Chunlin (ed.) Lishi shunjian (Beijing: Qunzhong chubanshe, 1999), Vol. 1, pp. 3–16.
  8. Gan, Nectar (April 18, 2015). "Revealed: the team behind China's Operation Fox Hunt against graft suspects hiding abroad". South China Morning Post. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  9. Rotella, Sebastian; Berg, Kirsten (July 22, 2021). "Operation Fox Hunt: How China Exports Repression Using a Network of Spies Hidden in Plain Sight". ProPublica. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  10. Walden, Max (January 18, 2022). "'Why stop?': NGO says Australia's failure to block forced return of residents to China has encouraged Beijing". ABC News. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  11. Wright, Tom; Hope, Bradley (January 7, 2019). "China Offered to Bail Out Troubled Malaysian Fund in Return for Deals". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  12. Godement, François; Vasselier, Abigaël (December 1, 2017). "China at the gates: A new power audit of EU-China relations". European Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  13. Cheng, Ming (March 1, 1997). "Spy Headquarters Behind the Shrubs -- Supplement to 'Secrets About CPC Spies'". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  14. Kania, Elsa (November 16, 2017). "Seeking a Panacea: The Party-State's Plans for Artificial Intelligence (Part 2)". Centre for Advanced China Research (CACR). Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. Schoenhals, Michael (February 18, 2013). Spying for the People: Mao's Secret Agents, 1949–1967. Cambridge University Press. pp. 105–6. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139084765. ISBN 9781139619714. OCLC 1030095349. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  17. Cheek, Timothy, ed. (August 23, 2010). A Critical Introduction to Mao. Cambridge University Press. p. 116. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511781476. ISBN 9781139789042. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  18. Schoenhals, Michael (February 18, 2013). Spying for the People: Mao's Secret Agents, 1949–1967. Cambridge University Press. pp. 31, 42, 106. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139084765. ISBN 9781139619714. OCLC 1030095349. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  19. Schoenhals, Michael (February 18, 2013). Spying for the People: Mao's Secret Agents, 1949–1967. Cambridge University Press. p. 129. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139084765. ISBN 9781139619714. OCLC 1030095349. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  20. Lim, J.; Petrone, K. (December 14, 2010). Gender Politics and Mass Dictatorship: Global Perspectives. Springer. p. 238. doi:10.1057/9780230283275. ISBN 9780230283275. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  21. "9mm Chinese Police revolver". Archived from the original on April 6, 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
  22. "Archived copy". www.cn-news.info. Archived from the original on May 16, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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