CCP Reinforces its KGB-Style Rule with Purges at Top Brass of State Security

Police officers and security block the way as they perform crowd control after an official flag raising ceremony to mark National Day next to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City on Oct. 1, 2021 in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

News Analysis

In the past two years, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping has been attempting to emulate the Soviet Union’s KGB style in rule without ceasing the purges on the top brass of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security, political observers suggest.

According to the Ministry of State Security’s release on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, Cheng Lifeng, a member of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection since 2022, appeared as head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group in the Ministry of State Security in a video conference on Feb. 18.

This is the first public appearance of the newly appointed watchdog of the CCP’s secret intelligence agency.

Cheng Lifeng attends a press conference on the legislative work of the NPC for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Media Centre in Beijing on March 9, 2019. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Public information shows Mr. Cheng was born in April 1964 in Wuan, a city in Hebei Province. From 2000 to 2022, he worked as deputy director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Heilongjiang Province and deputy chairman of the Committee on Environment and Resource Protection of the Thirteenth People’s Congress.

However, as with other vital players in the CCP system, such as the disappearance and removal of Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Defence Minister Li Shangfu, Mr. Cheng’s predecessor, Liu Yenping, was imprisoned for life.

Former Head of the Supervision Group of State Security

Liu Yenping, the former head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group of the Ministry of State Security, was investigated on March 12, 2022. In September of the same year, he was expelled from the party and the position. On Jan. 10, 2023, he was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on the charge of accepting bribes, also being deprived of political rights for life and having all his personal property confiscated.

The charges against Mr. Liu reportedly include “participating in Sun Lijun’s political gang, wantonly trampling on the rule of law, abusing the power of public security guards, engaging in prolonged superstitious activities, and resisting investigation.” He was also accused of illegally accepting vast amounts of property amounting to over 234 million yuan, or $32.5 million.

The 68-year-old is a native of Fengnan, Hebei Province. He worked for the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. In 2009, he was transferred to the Ministry of Public Security, where he served as director of the Police and Security Bureau, assistant minister, deputy minister, and member of the Party Committee. In May 2015, he was appointed as the secretary of the Discipline Committee and subsequently the head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group in the State Security Ministry.

“The Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security are two armed law enforcement agencies that have long been in the saddle of former CCP leader Jiang Zemin’s and his henchmen Zeng Qinhong’s factions—they are also the most disturbing political rivals for the current party leader,” according to Zhuge Mingyang, independent writer and contributor of The Epoch Times.

“Xi Jinping would take a firm grip on these two machines to exert the KBG-style rule in the country, so the state security and public security departments would be constantly cleared amid fierce infightings for the core power of the CCP,” said Mr. Zhuge.

Hong Kong’s State Security Bureau

In July last year, Dong Jingwei, former vice minister of the Ministry of State Security, was dispatched as the director of Hong Kong’s State Security Bureau. He reshuffled the Hong Kong and Macao secret service network, which had long been in Zeng Qinghong’s hands.

Mr. Dong had been the party secretary of the State Security Department of Hebei Province, the political department director, and a party committee member in the Ministry of State Security.

“Dong’s move will undoubtedly raise the status of Hong Kong’s National Security Bureau in the secret intelligence system and aid Xi Jinping in cleaning up more ‘traitors’ and ‘behind-the-scenes moneymakers’ by utilizing the area’s special geographic location.” Mr. Zhuge said.

Head of State Security Body

In October 2022, Chen Wenqing, former Minister of State Security, was appointed secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, effectively governing the state security apparatus.

(L-R) Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China He Weidong and Zhang Youxia, CPC Central Committee Political Bureau member Chen Wenqing and Tianjin Communist Party Secretary Chen Miner attend the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 13, 2023. Noel Celis/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The 64-year-old has worked in public security, national security, prosecution, and disciplinary inspection. In September 2015, He made his first public appearance as Party Secretary of the Ministry of State Security, and the following year was appointed Minister of State Security.

From the Minister of State Security to the Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, this position shift signaled “the beginning of the CCP’s rule by KGB-style operations,” according to political commentator Chen Pokong.

Mr. Chen, who started his career in Fujian Province, has followed Xi and is one of the critical members of the Fujian Gang.

CCP’s KGB-Style Rule

Wang Xiaoqiu, a resident of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, told The Epoch Times that her brother used to work in the national security system, where he monitored foreign businessmen 24 hours a day. Later, they recruited a lot of contract workers to arrest and beat up people in the name of maintaining stability.

According to Ms. Wang, over the years, the state security services’ armed policies have intervened to suppress Foxconn workers demanding unpaid wages, Henan depositors exposing P2P (peer-to-peer) lending fraud by village banks, homebuyers protesting against the failure of real estate developers to deliver their homes, and many others.

“[China’s] national security department has almost become the public security.”

Policemen watch over protesters gathering along a street during a rally for the victims of a deadly fire as well as a protest against China's harsh COVID-19 restrictions in Beijing on Nov. 28, 2022. Michael Zhang/AFP via Getty Images

Ms. Wang also revealed that her brother told the family “not to say anything they shouldn’t say on the phone, and not to post comments online because everything is under surveillance.”

“The oversight of senior cadres is even stricter; the whole country is a secret service country; everybody is under control, and there is no freedom here,” she said.

According to current affairs commentator Li Yanming, around the 20th National Congress at the end of 2022, Xi’s confidant, Chen Yixin, took over the post of Minister of State Security, and subsequently, the ministry made a rare high-profile mobilization of the whole nation to “catch spies” and threatened to ban free speech on financial and diplomatic affairs, “this is publicizing the KGB-style rule of the CCP regime.”

Mr. Li said Xi’s intention to strengthen KGB-style rule in the country and his veiled ambitions could trigger counterattacks by his political opponents and the international community’s vigilance.

“The ongoing political purges will also affect the operation of the CCP’s darknet system of domestic and overseas secret agents, and the purged state security agents may turn against Xi and join the anti-Xi movement.”

“The shaking of the CCP’s state security system is a manifestation of the escalation of internal struggles within the CCP’s top echelon and is also one of the signs of the end of the CCP’s regime.” Mr. Li said.