Chen Wenqing | |||||||||
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陈文清 | |||||||||
.jpg) Chen in 2024 | |||||||||
| Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission | |||||||||
| Assumed office 28 October 2022 | |||||||||
| General Secretary | Xi Jinping | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Guo Shengkun | ||||||||
| 5thMinister of State Security | |||||||||
| In office 7 November 2016 – 30 October 2022 | |||||||||
| Premier | Li Keqiang | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Geng Huichang | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Chen Yixin | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | (1960-01-24)24 January 1960 (age 65) Renshou County,Sichuan, People's Republic of China | ||||||||
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party | ||||||||
| Alma mater | Southwest University of Political Science & Law Sichuan Union University | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
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Chen Wenqing (Chinese:陈文清;pinyin:Chēn Wénqīng,IPA:[ʈʂʰən wə́nʈʂʰiŋ] ⓘ; born 24 January 1960) is a Chineseintelligence officer, politician and member of thePolitburo of the Chinese Communist Party who currently serves as thesecretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.
A graduate of theSouthwest University, Chen joined theMinistry of Public Security in 1984. By 1986, he became a deputy director of the Public Security Bureau inJinkouhe District. From 1986 to 1990, he served as the deputy director and then Director of the Public Security Branch ofWutongqiao District, during when he was decorated for his role in stopping two armed fugitives. He bcame the deputy director of the Leshan Public Security Bureau in 1990, later becoming its director in 1992. In 1994, Chen joined theMinistry of State Security (MSS), becoming the deputy director of the Sichuan provincial branch. In 1997, he became the secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Sichuan State Security Department, becoming the department's director in 1998; he was also appointed to be the deputy secretary-general of the Sichuan provincial government. In 2002, Chen became the chief prosecutor at the Sichuan Provincial People's Procuratorate.
In 2006, Chen was transferred to Fujian, where he became the secretary of the Fujian Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. From January 2012 to April 2013, Chen served aspolitical commissar of areserveanti-aircraft artillerydivision of thePeople's Liberation Army (PLA)Ground Force in Fujian. In 2012, he was transferred to Beijing and became thedeputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, where he served until 2015. In 2016, he was appointed as the Party Secretary of the MSS, followed by his appointment asMinister of State Security. In 2022, he was succeeded byChen Yixin as Minister; Chen Wenqing was made thesecretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, as well as a member of thePolitburo andCentral Secretariat.
A native ofRenshou County, a rural farming and coal-mining district inSichuan province, Chen's childhood occurred against the backdrop of theCultural Revolution and the rise of theRed Guards movement.[1]
His father was apolice officer at the Sichuan branch of theMinistry of Public Security (MPS), where for 20 consecutive years, starting in 1951, the elder Chen was recognized as a Sichuan Province "progressive worker" byChinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.[1] There are no records publicly available about the elder Chen's role, if any, in the Cultural Revolution, and the names of both Chen's mother and father remain unknown.[1]
Chen studied law and political science atSouthwest University inChongqing from September 1980 through August 1984.[1] He joined the CCP in March 1983.[2] He returned to school in March 1995, completing a postgraduate program in business management fromSichuan University in October 1997.[2]
Following his father, Chen entered the Ministry of Public Security in July 1984, beginning his service as an ordinary policeman at the Xiejia Town Police Station in thePengshan District Public Security Bureau, in Meishan, Sichuan Province. Some accounts suggest Chen's early police work involved a particular focus oncounterfeiting.[3][4] By late 1986 he was deputy director of the Public Security Bureau inJinkouhe District, aclosed city in theprefecture-level city ofLeshan, Sichuan Province, home to the Hepinggaseous diffusion plant (Plant 814) of Sichuan Honghua Industrial Corporation which produceshigh-enriched Uranium.[2][5]
From December 1986 to June 1990, Chen was deputy director and then Director of the Public Security Branch ofWutongqiao District, another district of Leshan.[2] In that time he was decorated for bravery for his role in stopping two armed fugitives. On 8 November 1988, Shao Jiangbin and Geng Xuejie,deserters from theHubei provincePeople's Armed Police, took stolenType 56 assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition and began a three-day murder spree through Hubei andShaanxi to Sichuan. After a pursuit involving 1,516 soldiers and police officers, the "Baiyangou Bandits" were finally cornered by police during a nighttime standoff in a dimly lit area, when Chen reportedly left cover in order to climb behind a rock in an exposed position near where the pair were hiding, and installedsearchlights to prevent them from escaping into the dark again.[6][7] Both fugitives were killed by police during the shootout. At the end of the year, Chen was selected as an "excellent police chief" of the year by superiors.[8][1]
In June 1990, he became deputy director of the Leshan Public Security Bureau (PSB), promoted to director in December 1992.[citation needed]
In 1994, Chen was transferred to theMinistry of State Security (MSS), becoming deputy director of the Sichuan provincial State Security Department (SSD), likely as a founding member of what was a newly established department created in the third of four waves of MSS expansion.[9][10] For many Public Security Bureau officers at the time of Chen's transfer to the Sichuan SSD, "they were police one day and state security the next."[10]
From January 1997 to January 1998, Chen was deputy director, deputy secretary and secretary of the Party Leadership Group at the Sichuan SSD. In January 1998, Chen took over leadership of the Sichuan SSD, and secretary of the Party Leadership Group. That September he also took up the role of deputy secretary-general of the provincial government. He stayed on as Sichuan SSD head until April 2002, when he was appointed chief prosecutor at the Sichuan provincialPeople's Procuratorate.[2]
| External videos | |
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 Chen speaking about anticorruption efforts in a 2014 interview with CCTV |
In April 2004, Chen became more involved in legal affairs, first serving as chief prosecutor of the Sichuan Provincial People'sProcuratorate before leaving Sichuan for Fujian in August 2006, becoming both deputy secretary of theFujian Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.[2][9] His public profile began to increase in this position, holding interviews with state media about his "anti-corruption concept" as early as 2008.[8] By 2012 he was talking publicly in Fujian about a need to investigate the loyalties and intents of Taiwanese businesses in thecross-straight province.[11] While at the CCDI, Chen helped lead the "tiger hunt" (a reference to the fact Mao once calledSouth China tigers the "enemies of man" and drove them to near-extinction) against public corruption.[12]
From January 2012 to April 2013, Chen served aspolitical commissar of areserveanti-aircraft artillerydivision of thePeople's Liberation Army (PLA)Ground Force in Fujian province.[2] Fujian is located directly acrossthe strait fromTaiwan, and is the garrison ofEastern Theater Command (previouslyNanjing Military Region), charged with maintaining security in theEast China Sea and the conduct of major operations against Taiwan. "Fujian experience" is considered especially prestigious, and a key prerequisite in the career track of many senior Communist Party officials and PLA officers.[13][14] At the18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in November 2012,Xi Jinping becameGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party, and Chen moved toBeijing to become deputy secretary and member of thestanding committee of the18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, both roles he retained until May 2015.[2] Chen's activities during the year between his departure from CCDI in May 2015 and his appointment as party secretary of the MSS in October 2016 are entirely unclear.[citation needed]
Chen was appointedParty Secretary of the MSS in October 2016. In 2016 command of the Ministry of State Security was split between outgoing MinisterGeng Huichang, and Chen as new Party Secretary. Geng was due to retire, but before leaving he was placed under investigation.[15][16] Chen appointed Tang Chao as a "special agent" to look into claims that Geng had used MSS technical means to monitor the communications of senior communist party officials, includingHu Jintao and Xi Jinping.[16] Ultimately Geng was exonerated when the CCDI concluded thatZhou Yongkang had circumvented MSS leadership, including head of Counterintelligence Liang Ke.[16]
Despite no longer being blamed for the breach, Xi Jinping chose to replace Geng with Chen anyway, clearing the way for a slate of reforms meant to reduce MSS influence, and increase the influence of the First Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, which also conducts foreign intelligence operations.[16] There had already been a major shakeup of MSS regional offices underway before Chen's appointment, reportedly on the direction of Xi Jinping himself.[16] Chen becameMinister of State Security on 7 November 2016.[17] He began by investigating and arresting his college friend and MSS counterintelligence head Ma Jian, reportedly as a test to prove his loyalty to theXi Jinping faction.[16] Under Chen's new leadership "arrests and purges began to multiply rapidly."[16]
In early 2018, Chen's MSS was given responsibility for the security of allBelt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects across 28 participating countries, after a lengthy fight for control against the Ministry of Public Security, CCP security coordinatorMeng Jianzhu.[3][16] In response, Chen led efforts to build stronger relations with Asian allies such as U Thaung Tun, Myanmar's National Security Advisor, and GeneralTô Lâm, currentMinister of Public Security of Vietnam. Soon after the MSS' selection for the program, Chen met with the heads of the intelligence services of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Spain, Germany and Turkey.Intelligence Online reported that Chen sought to strengthen MSS efforts in island nations that are crossed by the maritime component of the BRI, such as theSeychelles and theMaldives, in an effort to counter Indian influence, and deepen cooperation with the TurkishNational Intelligence Organization (MİT), key to the MSS' efforts to identifyUyghur jihadists which remain a top concern of senior Chinese officials.[3]
In 2020, Chen presided over a meeting of the Party Committee of the MSS regarding implementation of theHong Kong national security law.[18] Days after the law's passage, Chen and his ministry pledged to aid authorities in Hong Kong in its implementation.[19]
Following the Summer 2021US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Chen reportedly met directly with acting Talibaninterior ministerSirajuddin Haqqani inKabul several times as China increased support to Taliban intelligence operations.[20] He later joined senior intelligence officials from Russia, Iran andTajikistan at a summit led byLTGFaiz Hameed, chief ofPakistan'sISI, to explore regional stability concerns among the participants as theIslamic Republic of Afghanistan began to collapse.[21]
In late February 2018,Reuters reported that five sources including two foreign diplomats confirmed to them that Chen was going to be replaced byWang Xiaohong in the session of parliament beginning 5 March 2018. Wang was instead made Deputy Minister of Public Security at the meeting, and promoted to Minister of Public Security in November 2021, while Chen continued to lead the MSS.[22] On 30 October 2022, Chen was succeeded byChen Yixin.[23]
After the20th National Congress in October 2022, Chen was made a member of thePolitburo andCentral Secretariat.[10][24] As the only member of the Politburo with a background in state security, Chen was madesecretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLAC), succeedingGuo Shengkun.[19] John P. Burns, emeritus professor of politics at theUniversity of Hong Kong, said Chen's appointment signaled the party's insecurity both internationally with a more contentious relationship with the US and Europe, and domestically on issues related to Xinjiang, Tibet, and other cities.[19] In November 2022, afterprotests broke out against COVID-19 restrictions, Chen called for a crackdown on "hostile forces".[25]
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In a meeting in February 2023, Chen said all political and legal organizations must show "absolute loyalty" to the Party.[26] In May 2023, in his first trip overseas as CPLAC secretary, Chen visited Russia to attend the International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues, meetingSVR directorSergey Naryshkin.[27] He took a five-day trip Xinjiang in June 2023, where he said law enforcement should be used to tackle terrorism and crime.[28] He visited Chengdu in June 2023 ahead of theFISU World University Games, calling for an improvement in internal security.[29] In July 2023, Chen directed CCP committees at all levels to "attach great importance to, concern themselves with, and supportcovert front work."[30] In the same month, he also told a meeting of judges and prosecutors to direct a crackdown on telecommunication network fraud.[31] He paid an inspection trip toGansu, where he called on Tibet and Xinjiang to ensure stability.[32] in August 2023, In September 2023, Chen visited Germany, where he attended a China-Germany high-level security dialogue in Berlin, the first time a top ranking security official from China visited Germany.[33]
At a virtual meeting in January 2024, Chen delivered instructions by Xi to "defuse" social and economic risks.[34] In April 2024, Chen visited Russia and met with Russian Security Council SecretaryNikolai Patrushev, telling him China supported Russia's efforts to ensure its national security.[35] He visited Xinjiang in May 2024, where he called on for a "normalization" of counterterrorism efforts.[36] In June 2024, he met with Turkish Foreign MinisterHakan Fidan.[37] In September 2024, he embarked on a four-day visit to theTibet Autonomous Region and theGarzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, where he said security services should "resolutely crack down on separatist and destructive activities". He visited security units inLhasa andChamdo, while he presided over a meeting about "anti-secession work" in Garzê.[38] In January 2025, he was elected as the president of theChina Law Society.[39] In April 2025, Chen visited Xinjiang, where he called on officials so "combat violent and terrorist crimes according to the law, and eliminate the soil of religious extremism" and promote the use ofMandarin Chinese among ethnic minorities.[40] In May 2025, Chen visited Moscow, where he met with Security Council SecretarySergei Shoigu, telling him that China and Russia are "fighting together against attempts to harm sovereignty, security and development issues".[41] In June 2025, he undertook a three-day inspection tour ofQinghai Province, where he called the province a "strategic stronghold for maintaining stability in Xinjiang and Tibet".[42] In November 2025, he met with Syrian Foreign MinisterAsaad al-Shaibani.[43]
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| Preceded by | Minister of State Security 2016–2022 | Succeeded by |
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Li Keqiang Cabinet II (2018–2023) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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