| Chinese:北京市国家安全局 | |
.jpg) BSSB listing address at the Beijing Public Security Bureau Headquarters | |
| Bureau overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | May 1984; 41 years ago (1984-05) |
| Preceding bureau |
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| Jurisdiction | Beijing,China |
| Headquarters | Puhuangyu,Fangzhuang,Fengtai District,Beijing, China |
| Bureau executive |
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| Parent ministry | Ministry of State Security |
| Child bureau | |
TheBeijing State Security Bureau (Chinese:北京市国家安全局;pinyin:běijīng shì guójiā ānquán jú;Beijing SSB) is amunicipal bureau of China'sMinistry of State Security tasked withnational security,intelligence andsecret policing in the country's capital. Like other state security bureaus, theBeijing bureau is semi-autonomous from the national headquarters of the MSS located across the city while being simultaneously co-located within theBeijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. Established in May 1984 from parts of the Beijing Public Security Bureau,[1] the bureau has been accused of numeroushuman rights abuses, and has been involved in the arrest of journalists, jailing of dissidents, torture of businessmen, and was responsible forabducting the "two Michael's" used as hostages in exchange for Canada's release ofHuawei chief financial officerMeng Wangzhou.
The bureau appears to place a heavy emphasis oninternal andpolitical security operations, demonstrated by the operation ofits own detention center. While Beijing may be well suited for operations against foreign countries, and nearly all MSS bureaus specialize in one area or another, according to Chinese intelligence expert Peter Mattis, "the huge number of foreign officials and businesspeople living in and transiting the city probably keep the focus oncounterintelligence."[2]
The bureau has 21 operational divisions and is headquartered in a nondescript building at Puhuangyu inFangzhuang subdistrict,Fengtai District of Beijing.[3][better source needed] One of the most recent additions was theShijingshan District bureau, established in 2005.[4] The bureau also operates a detention facility which holds sensitivepolitical prisoners transferred from across the country to a central location in Beijing.[5]
The headquarters of the BSSB is in theFengtai District, while the bureau's listing address is No. 9Qianmen East Street in theDongcheng District, which is the Beijing Public Security Bureau headquarters.[6]
TheBeijing State Security Bureau Detention Center is a detention facility primarily used to housepolitical prisoners, similar to Russia'sLefortovo Prison inMoscow.[5] In 2019, former Chinese diplomat turned dissident Australian citizenYang Hengjun was arrested inGuangzhou and transferred to the BSSB Detention Centre to face espionage charges.
In December 2020, the BSSB detainedHaze Fan, a Beijing-based assistant reporter forBloomberg News, on what was purported to be a suspicion of endangering national security.[7][6][8] On June 14, 2022,China's embassy in the US told Bloomberg that Haze had been released on bail, although the agency had not made contact with her.[9]
In June 1989, the Beijing bureau was behind the expulsion ofAssociated Press reporterJohn Pomfret following his coverage of theTiananmen Square protests over allegations of his links with student leaders.[10] During the public pronouncement of charges against Pomfret, the bureau revealed its technical competence, displaying images from cameras previously assumed to be traffic cameras, cameras hidden inside restaurants, and raw footage from anABC News interview that had been intercepted from a satellite transmission to ABC News headquarters in the United States.[10][11]: 237
In 2005, the BSSB detainedSharon Hom, executive director ofHuman Rights in China, after she attended anEU-China bilateral human rights dialogue in Beijing.[12]
In 2006,Yahoo! executives admitted to theU.S. House Foreign Relations Committee that they had allowed two liaison officers with the Beijing State Security Bureau to work in a specialHong Kong-based office within the company.[13] In a subsequent hearing, executives declined to explain why they had provided emails andIP addresses to BSSB authorities which was allegedly used to convict and sentence journalistShi Tao and bloggerWang Xiaoning to ten years in prison each for "leaking state secrets."[13] The company later settled a civil suit over the matter out of court, and promised changes to the way it handles foreign law enforcement requests.[14] Yahoo! cofounderJerry Yang later appealed to U.S. Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice to press for the release of the two dissidents prior to her visit to China in 2008.[15]
In November 2007,Chinese American geologistXue Feng was arrested by the BSSB and charged with "exporting intelligence" for purchasing a commercially available database of Chinese oil wells.[16] Residing inHouston,Texas, Xue was on a business trip forIHS, Inc at the time of his arrest.[17] Following his arrest, human rights activistJohn Kamm told the Associated Press that the BSSB had ignored the deadlines for notification and visits required by Chinese law and its consular agreement with the U.S., and had not provided US consular officials his whereabouts for more than three weeks following his arrest.[18] Upon finally receiving access to US consular officials, Xue revealed he had been tortured, displayingcigarette burn marks on his arms.[19] After taking office in 2009, President Obama pressed for Xue's release in meetings with Chinese officials, to no avail.[17] Later appeals, attended personally by U.S. ambassadorJon Huntsman, were unsuccessful.[16] DuringHu Jintao's state visit to Washington, D.C., members of Congress confronted Hu about Xue.Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, at the time chairwoman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, andKevin Brady, who represented Xue's Houston district, separately pushed letters into Hu's hands urging Xue's release. After 8 years in theBeijing No.2 prison, he wasreleased and deported to the U.S. on 3 April 2015.[20]
Following the 2018 detention andattempted extradition ofHuawei chief financial officerMeng Wangzhou in Canada, the MSSarrested and jailed two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig of theInternational Crisis Group, andMichael Spavor, a consultant on relations withNorth Korea, in what was widely seen ashostage diplomacy to coerce Canada into repatriating Meng.[21] According toChinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs SpokespersonLu Kang, the Beijing State Security Bureau and the State Security Bureau ofDandong city inLiaoning, were responsible for abducting the two men.[22] The men were released in 2021 after 1,019 days in MSS custody, just hours after charges against Meng were dropped.[23]
In 2018,Peking University announced its new Party Secretary would be former Beijing SSB Party SecretaryQiu Shuiping, who headed the Communist Party's involvement in the bureau from 2013 to 2014.[24] Several outlets noted the rhetoric of the hiring announcement closely mirrored wording from new components ofXi Jinping Thought released just days prior.[25]
In 2017, the Beijing bureau announced cash bounties of up to ¥500,000yuan for anyone who reports on what they believe to be foreign espionage activity with the aim of building "an iron Great Wall"counterintelligence program to "combat evil."[26]
In January 2014, BSSB directorLiang Ke [zh] was removed from office and arrested amid a power struggle.[27] AsXi Jinping tightened his control of theChinese Communist Party (CCP), he waged ananti-corruption campaign to purge his political adversaries, culminating in the downfall of former minister of public securityZhou Yongkang and his political allies, which included MSS vice minister Qiu Jin and his protégé Liang.[2][27][28] State media said the investigation into Liang was connected to allegations of corruption and his dealing with Zhou, while other sources reported that he was suspected of monitoring the whereabouts of some members of thePolitburo Standing Committee, including Xi Jinping himself.[28]
Fan Shouzhi [zh] has held the longest tenure in BSSB leadership, serving as deputy director from October 1986 to December 1996, at which time he was promoted to director, serving through September 2001, before becoming a member of theBeijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.[29]
| No. | Director | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Min Boying (闵步瀛) | 10 December 1983 | November 1986 | 2 years, 11 months | [29][30] |
| 2 | Wang Tong (汪统) | November 1986 | 1988 | 2 years | [29] |
| 3 | Fan Shouzhi [zh] (樊守志) | December 1996 | September 2001 | 4 years, 9 months | [29] |
| 4 | Wang Chongxun (王崇勋) | 27 February 2003 | unknown | unknown | [29] |
| 5 | Liang Ke [zh] (梁克) | 18 April 2008 | 21 February 2014 | 5 years, 8 months | [29] |
| 7 | Li Dong [zh] (李东) | 21 February 2014 | unknown | unknown | [29] |
For example, the state security outfit in Beijing's Shijingshan District was established only in 2005. (from 北京石景山年鉴 ["Beijing Shijingshan Statistical Yearbook"] 2006, p. 201.)
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