Public security bureau (China)

For other uses, see Public security bureau (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Ministry of State Security (China).

A public security bureau (PSB; Chinese: 公安局; pinyin: gōng'ānjú) of a city or county, or public security department (PSD; Chinese: 公安厅; pinyin: Gōng'āntīng) of a province or autonomous region, in the People's Republic of China refers to a government office essentially acting as a police station or a local or provincial police; the smallest police stations are called police posts (Chinese: 派出所; pinyin: pàichūsuǒ).

Overview

PSB/PSD agencies act as the main civilian police agency of the city/province they are in.

Other duties include residence registration ("hukou") and internal and external migration matters, such as the registration of temporary residents (including both foreign and domestic visitors).

The system of public security bureaus is administered by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), which co-ordinates the work of provincial public security departments that are also answerable to the local governments and provincial party secretaries.

PSBs located in each province are jointly supervised by the central government as well as provincial governments, an arrangement that is intended to prevent corruption and unchecked influence by provincial general secretaries.

Provincial public security bureaus in turn administer county or district level public security sub-bureaus and branch bureaus, which perform a role similar to larger police stations.^[1]

The lowest level outposts are police posts, which perform duties similar to of small local police stations.

Most major Chinese cities have a PSB assigned to deal with local security needs. Each province, municipality and autonomous region has a provincial-level public security department or municipal PSB to deal with provincial security issues.^{[citation needed]}

The PSB system does not apply to the special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong, as they have their own police forces, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Public Security Police Force of Macau, respectively.

Highway Patrol Public Security Bureaus

Provincial PSDs also have administration over provincial highway patrol agencies, known as Highway Patrol Public Security Bureaus.^[2][3][4]

Relations with the MSS

The network of public security bureaus and the Ministry of Public Security should not be confused with the separate but parallel networks of state security bureaus/state security departments, administered at the national level by the Ministry of State Security (MSS).

The MSS is responsible for external and internal intelligence, and performing a "secret police" or security police role responsible for preemptive response to 'mass incidents' (Chinese terminology for protests or social disturbances) and internal security.

The two systems are administratively separate, although at local levels they co-operate to a large extent and often share resources and internal security bureaus are structured as units or departments within public security bureaus (PSBs) to allow for closer and more effective integrated operations and cooperation as needed.^[5]

Controversies

In 2016, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Public Security Department signed a partnership agreement with Huawei.^[6]

In 2019, the same PSD and its subordinate municipal PSBs were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of State for their role in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.^[7]

In 2020, the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the Xinjiang PSD under the Global Magnitsky Act.^[8]

In October 2022, various news outlets reported that the MPS had opened clandestine police stations overseas.^{[9][10][11][12]}

See also

• Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
  • Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau
  • People's Police (China)

References

1. Wang, Xiaohai (23 April 2015). Empowerment on Chinese Police Force's Role in Social Service. Springer. p. 171. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-45614-9. ISBN 978-3-662-45614-9.
2. "筑牢交通安全防线——省公安厅高速公路公安局全面开展冬季整治行动记事——地方新闻". www.dajilin.com. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
3. "武汉高速交警提升"冬季行动"打防质效--湖北省公安厅". gat.hubei.gov.cn. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
4. 马娟. "中华人民共和国公安部令（第116号） 公路巡逻民警队警务工作规范__2011年第32号国务院公报_中国政府网". www.gov.cn. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
5. Joske, Alex (2023). "State security departments: The birth of China's nationwide state security system" (PDF). Deserepi: Studies in Chinese Communist Party External Work.
6. "Mapping more of China's tech giants: AI and surveillance". Australian Strategic Policy Institute. 28 November 2019. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
7. Shepardson, David (7 October 2019). "U.S. puts Hikvision, Chinese security bureaus on economic blacklist". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
8. "Treasury Sanctions Chinese Entity and Officials Pursuant to Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 23 February 2024. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
9. Lee, Michael (29 September 2022). "China has opened overseas police stations in US and Canada to monitor Chinese citizens: report". Fox News. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
10. Delaney, Matt (2 October 2022). "China establishes police station in New York City". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
11. Morgan, Ryan (28 September 2022). "Report: Chinese police set up covert station in NYC, 31 others around the world". American Military News. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
12. "Report: China's unofficial 'police stations' operating under the radar in London, other parts of the world". news.yahoo.com. 15 September 2022. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.