Ling Yun | |
|---|---|
| 凌云 | |
 Ling Yun (Left) with Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping (Right) | |
| Minister of State Security | |
| In office 1 June 1983 – 1 September 1985 | |
| Premier | Zhao Ziyang |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Jia Chunwang |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wu Peilin (1917-06-29)29 June 1917 Jiaxing,Zhejiang,China |
| Died | 15 March 2018(2018-03-15) (aged 100) Beijing,China |
| Political party | Communist Party of China |
| Ling Yun | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 凌雲 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 凌云 | ||||||
| |||||||
Ling Yun (Chinese:凌云; 29 June 1917 – 15 March 2018), born asWu Peilin (吴沛霖), was a politician of thePeople's Republic of China, who served as the firstMinister of State Security, from June 1983 (officially from July 1) to September 1985.[1]
A protégé of GeneralLuo Ruiqing, he headed the 1st Bureau of theMinistry of Public Security during the earlyMaoist years, dealing with suppression of political, ethnic and religious opponents of the Communist Party.
Ling Yun was born inJiaxing,Zhejiang on 29 June 1917. He joined theChinese Communist Party in April 1938 and became a guerrilla fighter inShanxi Province. He received military training at the "Shanxi Youth Officers School", run by warlordYan Xishan, who, at the time, was working together with the Communists to oppose theJapanese invasion. Later, he moved to neighboringShaanxi Province, where he studied at the "Northern Shaanxi Public School", which was established in 1937 by the Communist Party to train anti-Japanese military and political officers. After graduating, he was posted at the headquarters of the Communist Party inYan'an, where he joined and advanced in the ranks of theCentral Social Affairs Department, led, at the time, byKang Sheng.
After the outbreak of theChinese Civil War, Ling became a member of the North Chinaland reform team led by Kang Sheng, and was active in seizing land from wealthy landlords and distributing it to peasants. In August 1948, he served as the Director of the Public Security Bureau (police chief) of the city ofWeifang, after it was captured by thePeople's Liberation Army, and from 1949 to 1952 he was Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau ofJinan, the capital ofShandong.
From 1952 to 1966, Ling was based inBeijing, as Deputy Director and then Director of the 1st Bureau of theMinistry of Public Security, and from 1963 Deputy Minister of Public Security, handling very sensitive issues, as his Bureau dealt with the suppression of political, ethnic and religious separatism.[1]
After the outbreak of theCultural Revolution in 1966, the leadership of the Ministry of Public Security (with the notable exception of the Minister himself,Xie Fuzhi, who was an ally of the radicals) was accused of having created "an underground counter-revolutionary Ministry of Public Security headed by Luo Ruiqing" (the previous Minister). All 7 Deputy Ministers were removed from office, as were 63 department heads within the Ministry. Ling himself was expelled from the Communist Party, arrested, tortured byRed Guards, and then sent to do manual labor.[1]
After the Cultural Revolution, Ling Yun was restored to all his posts and was again appointed Deputy Minister of Public Security in 1978, serving until 1983.[1]
In June 1983,Deng Xiaoping, who had risen to supreme power in China, decided to create a new security, intelligence and regime protection agency by merging thecounter-intelligence and political security departments of the Ministry of Public Security with theCentral Investigation Department (which had been China's primary civilian intelligence apparatus since 1955). Deng did this because he wanted to sidelineLuo Qingchang, who had been the Director of the Central Investigation Department since 1973, and strongly opposed Deng's policies (he was loyal to the Maoist legacy).
As a result, the newMinistry of State Security was established, and Ling Yun, as an experienced counterintelligence specialist, became the first Minister. Ling remained in office until September 1985, when he retired and was replaced by the much youngerJia Chunwang
Acentenarian, Ling died in Beijing on March 15, 2018. On March 21,Xinhua News Agency released a message: “An outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a long-tested and loyal communist fighter, Comrade Ling Yun, former Party Secretary and Minister of the Ministry of State Security, died on March 15, 2018 due to illness". On May 13, thePeople's Daily also published an obituary full of praise.[1][2]
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None | Minister of State Security 1983–1985 | Succeeded by |
