Police and Internal Security
The security apparatus is made up of the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security, the People's Armed Police, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the state judicial, procuratorial, and penal systems. The Ministry of Public Security oversees all domestic police activity in China, including the People’s Armed Police Force. The ministry is responsible for police operations and prisons and has dedicated departments for internal political, economic, and communications security. Its lowest organizational units are public security stations, which maintain close day-to-day contact with the public. The People’s Armed Police Force, which sustains an estimated total strength of 1.5 million personnel, is organized into 45 divisions: internal security police, border defense personnel, guards for government buildings and embassies, and police communications specialists.
The Ministry of State Security was established in 1983 to ensure “the security of the state through effective measures against enemy agents, spies, and counterrevolutionary activities designed to sabotage or overthrow China’s socialist system.” The ministry is guided by a series of laws enacted in 1993, 1994, and 1997 that replaced the “counterrevolutionary” crime statutes. The ministry’s operations include intelligence collection, both domestic and foreign.
China has developed an efficient, well-funded internal security apparatus which is tasked with stability maintenance, or “weiwen”. According to a study conducted by Tsinghua University, based on published police budgets, $77 billion, (514 billion yuan) was appropriated for internal security in 2009, a budget item which is rapidly increasing.
Read more about this topic: National Security Of The People's Republic Of China
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