Secret police are police, intelligence, or security agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, ideological, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. They protect the political power of a dictator or regime and often operate outside the law to repress dissidents and weaken political opposition, frequently using violence. They may enjoy legal sanction to hold and charge suspects without ever identifying their organization.
Law enforcement in the People's Republic of China consists of an extensive public security system and a variety of enforcement procedures. Along with the courts and procuratorates, the country's judicial and public security agencies include the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Ministry of State Security (MSS), with their descending hierarchy of departments, bureaus, subbureaus, and stations.
The Ministry of Public Security 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. While the MPS is a nationwide police force, conducting counterintelligence and maintaining the political security of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remain its core functions.
The University of International Relations is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China.
The Ministry of State Security (MSS) is the principal civilian intelligence and security service of the People's Republic of China, responsible for foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, and defense of the political security and honor of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). One of the largest and most secretive intelligence organizations in the world, it maintains powerful semi-autonomous branches at the provincial, city, municipality and township levels throughout China. The ministry's headquarters, Yidongyuan, is a large compound in Beijing's Haidian district.
A public security bureau of a city or county, or public security department of a province or autonomous region, in the People's Republic of China refers to a government office essentially acting as a police station or a local or provincial police; the smallest police stations are called police posts.
Jia Chunwang is a Chinese politician, intelligence officer, and prosecutor who held top positions in both the security apparatus and judiciary of the People's Republic of China. He served as Minister of State Security for 13 years (1985–1998), as Minister of Public Security (1998–2002) and finally as the procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (2003–2008).
Geng Huichang, is a Chinese intelligence officer and politician who served as the 4th Minister of State Security of the People's Republic of China and prior as president of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), the 11th bureau of the Ministry of State Security (MSS). He is currently the vice chairman of the Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and a member of the Standing Committee of the National Conference of the CPPCC National Committee (NC-CPPCC).
The Public Security Intelligence Agency is the domestic intelligence agency of Japan. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice and is tasked with internal security and espionage against threats to Japanese national security based on the Subversive Activities Prevention Act and the Act Regarding the Control of Organizations Which Committed Indiscriminate Mass Murder. Any investigation conducted by the agency needs to go through the Public Security Examination Commission (PSEC) in order to determine if there is a justification to investigate and clamp down on an organization's activities.
The Ministry of State Security of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the secret police agency of North Korea. It is an autonomous agency of the North Korean government reporting directly to the Supreme Leader. The agency is reputed to be one of the most brutal secret police forces in the world, and it has been involved in numerous human rights abuses.
The national security of China is the coordination of a variety of organizations, including law enforcement, military, paramilitary, governmental, and intelligence agencies that aim to ensure China's national security. China considers three factors in its national security: national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
The China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations is the cover identity of the 11th Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). It is a set of research institutes used as a front to influence foreign diplomats and academics and collect intelligence. Located in Beijing, CICIR is operated by senior MSS officers. A 2009 report from the CIA's Open Source Center concluded that CICIR resembles a "Soviet-style intelligence organ" whose principle intelligence customer is the Foreign Affairs Leading Group. CICIR is overseen by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
Yu Qiangsheng is a former high-ranking Chinese intelligence officer who defected to the United States in 1985. Born into an elite princeling family, Yu ascended to head of North American operations for China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), during which time he acted as a double agent, passing information to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Described by his former FBI handler as "the ultimate risk taker", Yu ultimately fled China for the United States in 1986. His disclosures most famously exposed CIA officer Larry Wu-Tai Chin as having been a mole for China for more than 40 years.
Chen Wenqing is a Chinese intelligence officer, politician and member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party who currently serves as the secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission. He previously led the Ministry of State Security.
The National Immigration Administration (NIA), alternatively known as the Exit and Entry Administration of the People's Republic of China, is a sub-ministry-level executive agency administrated by the Ministry of Public Security. The administration is responsible for coordinating and formulating immigration policies and their implementation, border control, administering foreigners’ stay, management on refugees and nationality, taking the lead in coordinating the administering of foreigners who illegally enter, stay or are employed in China, and the repatriation of illegal immigrants.
The People's Police is the national civilian police force of the People's Republic of China.
The 12th Bureau of the Ministry of State Security, known publicly as the China International Culture Exchange Center under an arrangement called "one institution with two names", is a set of research institutes operated by the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), the principal civilian intelligence agency of the People's Republic of China as a front organization. CICEC was founded in 1984 and is active in operations to influence foreign think tanks, academics, and other high-profile foreigners. In addition to the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, CICEC is considered one of the main front organizations utilized for foreign influence operations by the MSS.
The Beijing State Security Bureau is a municipal bureau of the Chinese Ministry of State Security tasked with national security, intelligence and secret policing in the country's capital. Like other state security bureaus, the Beijing bureau is semi-autonomous from the national headquarters of the MSS located across the city. Established in May 1984 from parts of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, the bureau has been accused of numerous human rights abuses, and has been involved in the arrest of journalists, jailing of dissidents, torture of businessmen, and was responsible for abducting the "two Michael's" used as hostages in exchange for Canada's release of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wangzhou.
Yidongyuan is a government compound in Beijing, China which serves as the headquarters of the Ministry of State Security (MSS). The facility is comprised of an office complex and residential community occupying a full city block in the Xiyuan area of Beijing's Haidian District. Closed to the public, and separated by a perimeter wall, the secretive nondescript facility is believed to be staffed by approximately 10,000 intelligence officers and support staff.
The Guangdong State Security Department is a division of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) responsible for intelligence collection and secret policing in the province of Guangdong. Established as one of the original 14 semi-autonomous provincial MSS units in 1983, the department is involved in expansive human intelligence efforts, information operations, and cyber espionage campaigns. It is headquartered in the provincial capital of Guangzhou.
