Internal Document of the Domestic Security Department of the Public Security Bureau (Part II)
The Domestic Security Department ??????????is a branch of the police force within the Ministry of Public Security, specializing in collecting intelligence, infiltrating and dealing with political dissidents, human rights activists, petitioners, religious groups as well as “subversive” activities in the cultural, educational and economics domains. It is a massive, secretive and omnipotent security apparatus within the giant police machine of the PRC. [Read more about the Domestic Security Department, or DSD, here.]
The following internal document, a paper written by a local Domestic Security Officer from Shaoxing city, Zhejiang Province, was leaked into Chinese cyberspace recently, and reveals many details about how this secretive police force works day-to day at the local level to control Chinese society. The original passage is excerpted from a book entitled Collected Essays on Domestic Security that is circulated internally within the Domestic Security Department (DSD). CDT translated the selected text here; thanks to the translator who wishes to remain anonymous. [This is Part II of III. Part I is here.]
B. Rely on ground-level organizations, implement defense and control mechanisms
[We have worked to] implement on the ground level of the Party government organization the DSD’s work of putting in place measures to defend against and control those within the DSD’s scope. The DSD departments [have worked to achieve] through specialized guidance the actual ability of base-level organizations to effectively defend against and control people and events of special interest. In this regard the work of Zhuji city, origin of “the experience at Fengqiao”, is especially rich. Perhaps what is most striking is their system of “Four Firsts, Four Earlys”: (1) Persist in putting inspection first; discover the seeds of discord early. This involves ground-level organizations and the DSD departments using foundational detection, directional detection, follow-up detection, and specialized detection to take charge of the work of providing early warning. (2) Persist in putting detection and warning first; defend and control early. This involves implementing comprehensive defense and control measures towards people of interest and people who pose a special danger by: sharing information amongst base-level organizations, analyzing situations, and implementing methods of diversion and control. (3) Persist in putting education first; resolve conflicts early. [Zhuji City has] implemented a system called “4+1” that helps and educates certain key people within special communities. This system involves the standing committee + the department heads + village communities + the responsible police officers, and is a method of creating change through helping and teaching. The control, helping, and teaching mechanisms are directed towards populations of interest and implemented by: the united effort of the DSD, the local police, the police station branch leaders and the neighborhood communities, police, village and town (street administrative district, work unit) village (community) cadres, and secret forces. This effort uses the “Three Sinceres and the Three Helps” method which is to sincerely teach, sincerely touch and persuade, and to sincerely uplift, so as to gradually reduce elements of social instability and prevent conflicts from rising up to higher levels [of government]. (4) persist in putting punishment first; strike and take care of things early. [We should] use appropriate methods and at appropriate times strike and punish both acts clearly outside the bounds of the law as well as seeds of discord so as to deter and also to educate.
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C. Rely on powers within society; establish coordination mechanisms
In the process of developing key strategic positions and key regions to defend against and control, we face the reality that our specialized abilities are not sufficient. Therefore, we have actively relied on powers within society by building a foundation of mutual help, mutual assistance, and mutual trust to establish a multi-tiered coordination mechanism. Classic examples of this are the cultural propaganda department’s program called “[Provide for] security by defending against [subversive] writings” and the “Three Corps, Three Personnel” program implemented at colleges and universities. The realm of cultural propaganda is characterized by great intellectual activity, a diversity of viewpoints, and by the reality that cultural propaganda is a major battlefield upon which the forces of opposition, domestic and foreign, seek to steal away the public’s right to expression. Along with the news, propaganda, broadcast and television, and culture departments, we jointly established a corps of monitors to inspect and control the book market, fiber optic cables, website forums, and ink and paper storehouses, so as to eliminate any possible hidden security threats, political or material. As for colleges and universities, [the problems encountered were that] campuses are scattered in different areas, security skills are low, defense capabilities are weak, etc. In response to theses conditions we joined with the alarm and protection force to form a corps of roving monitors, established a corps of student campus-wide roving monitors, and established an inter-school assistance corps. These “three corps” effectively supplemented the DSD’s power, ensured the [ideological] purity of the campuses, and at the same time—by establishing a system of school contact people, advisors, and intelligence personnel—promoted mutual understanding and communication between the schools and the DSD. This created prime conditions in which developments at the college level could be ascertained, and intelligence information could be gathered.
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D. Rely on the people; refine self-governing mechanisms
[We strive to] persist in wide-scale mobilization of the masses, propagandizing to the masses, organizing the masses, guiding and using the enthusiasm for self-governance held by the masses, as a way of organizing and carrying on the work of preserving stability. Currently, more than 1200 administrative villages and more than 70 neighborhood residents’ committees in our city have established “creating security, preserving stability” small leadership groups. These small groups along with police mediation personnel, DSD intelligence personnel and the core “uplifting” personnel (referred to as “the three personnel”) extend the Public Security Bureau’s work of preserving social stability and the Public Security Bureau’s intelligence gathering apparatus out to the masses. The Fengqiao police station in Zhuji with the support of the township Party committee and according to need has established a self-governing people’s corps organized by forty DSD work coordinators. This corps was organized by the principle of “organize by proximity, one person from every village.” The corps not only effectively resolved the police station’s weaknesses of lacking sufficient foundational DSD police capability, incomplete ground-level supervision, holes in the control and supervision of people and events of interest, etc; it also further increased the breadth of the DSD’s intelligence gathering base and promoted the organic fusion of the work of specialized personnel with the work of the masses. Currently, we are planning on gradually taking this model out to the countryside where the DSD’s workload is relatively heavy.
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?????????????????1200??????70??????????“????”??????“?????????????????”?? ??“??”???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????40? ???????????????????“?????????”?????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????E. Rely on specialized forces; strengthen specialized mechanisms
A unified effort requires that the mechanism for building, deploying, commanding and utilizing secret forces is continually strengthened. As for building [secret forces], [we should] break free from the original framework of primarily relying upon grey regions; [we should] combine the use of economic incentives with personal feeling to establish a new kind of secret force that is highly educated, capable, and objectively demonstrates that they are willing to serve the DSD. At the same time, in order to generally raise the police force’s ability to engage in hidden conflicts, and their ability to engage in specialized work, we have introduced a work requirement that “no matter what position you hold, everyone must build the secret forces.” In terms of development, we have continually extended our intelligence gathering apparatus into the Internet and other new media to build upon our foundation of focusing on people, events and areas of interest. Starting in 2003, we tried building a secret Internet force. In terms of command and utilization, [we have] transformed the original passive model into a proactive model; we have gradually changed the practice of passively reacting to proactively striking. This fulfills the requirement of key departments to “detect and ambush” and has proactively cultivated a new kind of multi-faceted secret force that can be utilized across lines.
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?To be continued.?
Image source: aboluowang, Shanghai plainclothes DSD police officers are on duty. (Photo taken by a petitioner in front of Shanghai government petitioning office.)
