WOIPFG Report: Historical Details of the 610 Office, National Security Bureau, and Ministry of State Security

Recently, former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) diplomat Chen Yonglin and former Tianjin policeman Hao Fengjun, who is also a member of the Tianjin Public Security Bureau and the Tianjin 610 Office, declared their withdrawals from the Chinese Communist Party one after the other. They have also revealed dark secrets behind the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, as well as the existence of an overseas spy network, drawing a great deal of attention from the international community.

The following details regarding the 610 Office, the Chinese Ministry of State Security, and the Chinese Security Protection Bureau were adapted from reports of the World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG).

The 610 Office

On June 7th, 1999, at a meeting of the CCP Central Committee Political Bureau, Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the CCP, gave a speech on how to settle the Falun Gong issue and announced that a specialised committee was to be set up to handle the problem of Falun Gong. Three days later, on June 10th, 1999, the "Committee for Dealing with the Falun Gong Issue" was set up, headed by Li Nanqing, with Luo Gan and Ding Guangen as deputy leaders. The committee is comprised of high-ranking communist officials from the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Public Security Bureau, the Ministry of State Security, the Central Propaganda Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The "Committee for Dealing with the Falun Gong Issue" was set up at the highest central government level and filtered down to all levels of government committees and commissions. The offices set up under these task forces were known as the "Offices for Dealing with the Falun Gong Issue." Because it was launched on June 10th, it is also known as the "610" Office. The 610 Office is very close to the Party's Political and Judiciary Committee and not quite as close to the Party Commission Office. It belongs to a sector of the Party, as it was not right, at least in name, for the Party to handle the problem directly. In September 2000, the "Prevention and Handling of Cults Office" was set up under the State Councils of all government ministries and divisions. It belonged to the government in name, but it was in fact simply another name for the 610 Office. The first 610 Office Chairperson was Wang Maolin, and the deputy chair is the current Public Security Bureau Deputy Chairman Liu Jing¹. The 610 Office exercises totalitarian rule and coordinates the persecution of Falun Gong throughout the entire nation. As the result of several adjustments, strengthening, and change of names, this office today possesses overwhelming power. It has expanded its territory to encompass all churches, religions, qigong practises (practises that cultivate "qi", otherwise known as "vital energy"), and organisations that do not believe in the CCP. Although the 610 Office was reported on by name in previous news reports, its existence was not recorded in top-level public documents or in the official judicial and governmental documents. Its presence is in essence illegal according to present Chinese laws.

Inside the Public Security System

- National Security

The 610 Office is simply a command centre, and it does not have any formal executives. The 610 Office therefore achieves its goal of persecuting Falun Gong by commanding the law-enforcement departments. Within the Chinese public security system, the former Political Security Offices, from the provincial down to the regional and district levels, were charged with carrying out the persecution. The provincial level led by example by renaming the Provincial Public Security Office to the "National Security Office," and becoming known to the public as the "National Security Team." The municipal and regional levels followed, renaming themselves the "National Security Team" and the "National Security Division." There are slight differences in names between different provinces. Provincial and municipal "National Security Protection Bureaus" ranked second in the hierarchy, so some of them are known as "National Security Protection Offices."

- The 610 Office and Anti-cult Office

In a meeting held either in late 2000 or early 2001, Jiang Zemin pointed out that the original 610 Office had not achieved the desired results. The National Security Office, the Public Security Office, and the regional offices were directed to set up 610 Offices². In 2001, the public security bureau released a document entitled "Notice to Set Up a Public Security Division to Handle Falun Gong and Other Harmful Qigong Practices" (the 157th Issue in 2001 by the Public-Politics). Since then, within each public security division, its own 610 Office was set up and known as the "Prevention and Handling of Cults Office," although it fell under the jurisdiction of the National Security Protection Bureau. Some 610 Offices were set up independently or were just another name for the National Security Protection Bureau. Hao Fengjun, the Chinese official who supported Chen Yonglin, is from the Tianjin Public Security Bureau's National Security Protection Bureau. Provincial and municipal 610 Office chairs are often also the National Security Protection Squad Leader or Deputy Leader³.

- 26th Division of the Public Security Bureau

The First Division of the Public Security Bureau was initially responsible for persecuting Falun Gong. Later, this division was divided to form the independent 26th division solely in charge of persecuting Falun Gong. Under normal circumstances, the Public Security Bureau is only concerned with matters within China. However, on the Falun Gong issue in recent years, it has dispatched spies, collected information illegally, and conducted harassment and persecution overseas. They do not normally contact the intelligence, military, or national security systems in the overseas embassies but, rather, function and report directly to the 26th division or its branch organisations.

- State Security Bureau

The National Security Bureau has no relationship with the Security Protection Division of the Public Security Bureau. Its system of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners is mainly focused overseas or on the persecution of practitioners who return from overseas. Most spies that are dispatched overseas belong to this system, and their main purpose within China is to collect intelligence information. There is a difference between the National Security Bureau and the Security Protection Bureau in terms of daily persecution of practitioners within the country in terms of scope and extent.

Notes:

(1) Liu Jing, a student at Beijing University of Technology during the Cultural Revolution became the chair of the "Beijing University of Technology Cultural Revolution Committee."

(2) Hu Jintao mentioned that expanding the 610 Office would require a lot of manpower and economic investment. Jiang Zemin immediately shouted back at Hu Jintao, "They're going to take your power! There's no time for your manpower and economic investment nonsense!" Hu Jintao was stunned and wrote something in his notebook.

(3) Example: Beijing Public Security Bureau 610 Office Chair Zhang Xianlin is also the Beijing National Security Protection Squad Leader and Sichuan Provincial Office 610 Office Chair Li Keli is also the Sichuan Province National Security Protection Squad Deputy Leader.