From China Digital Space

国宝 (guóbǎo): national treasure

Homonym with 国保, the abbreviation for the Domestic Security Department (国内安全保卫支队 Guónèi Ānquán Bǎowèi Zhīduì, DSD). The DSD is a branch of the police force within the Ministry of Public Security specialized in handling political dissidents, human rights activists, petitioners, religious groups, and “subversive” activities in the cultural, educational, and economic domains. It is a massive, secretive, and omnipotent security apparatus within the giant police machine of the People’s Republic.

The DSD are more feared and reviled than the regular police, because they are not subject to the same oversight and have been known to beat and illegally detain dissidents. Activist Hu Jia and renown artist Ai Weiwei have both been detained and beaten by the DSD, while Liu Xia, wife of Nobel-prize winning democracy activist Liu Xiaobo, remains under their watchful eye while she endures illegal house arrest.

The panda, China’s national treasure, is often used as a symbol of the DSD.

Contents 1 Word of the Week: National Treasure 2 Machine Guns: Not Just for Soldiers Anymore 3 Records of “Drinking Tea” 4 Zhang Xiang: A Reply Letter to the Domestic Security Department 5 @StonyWang: Forced to Drink Jasmine Tea

Word of the Week: National Treasure

19 December 2012, by Anne Henochowicz

Machine Guns: Not Just for Soldiers Anymore

28 June 2012, by Anne Henochowicz

Records of “Drinking Tea”

2 March 2012, by Samuel Wade

Zhang Xiang: A Reply Letter to the Domestic Security Department

11 August 2011, by Xiao Qiang

@StonyWang: Forced to Drink Jasmine Tea

25 March 2011, by Samuel Wade