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Shandong State Security Department

山东省国家安全厅
Seal of the Ministry of State Security
Department overview
Formed	1983; 41 years ago (1983)
Jurisdiction	Shandong, China
Headquarters	Jinan, Shandong, China
Parent Ministry	Ministry of State Security

The Shandong State Security Department (SSSD; Chinese: 山东省国家安全厅) is a division of China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) responsible for intelligence collection and secret policing in the province of Shandong. The department commands several prolific subordinate city-level units including the state security bureaus (SSB) of the cities of Jinan and Qingdao.

History

Shandong has long maintained a substantial state security footprint dating to the founding of the People's Republic. The province was regarded as a 'stronghold' for Kang Sheng, the Qingdao-born Politburo Standing Committee member and spymaster who led China's national intelligence apparatus, then called the Social Affairs Department (SAD), during the 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During that time, many cadres purged from factional infighting at the Red Guards headquarters in Beijing were sent down to Shandong so he could exercise tight control over them.

The Shandong SSD was established in 1983 during the creation of the MSS as one of the original 14 provincial state security departments. It is described in an official history as the successor agency to the Shandong Investigation Department. Upon its founding, the SSD had just 46 staff likely transferred from the investigation department. By the following year, it had grown to 238, likely due to transfers from the Shandong Public Security Department. During that time, more than a fifth of the provincial public security personnel in Shandong were transferred to the state security system.

In 2000, the three-tier (national-provincial-city) state security system underwent major changes, instituting 'soft centralization' that "served as a prelude to the further centralization that was to come in the 2016–2017 reforms." The reforms instituted a system of “vertical leadership, two-level management (垂直领导, 两级管理)” whereby city bureaus were placed under the direct control of their provincial superiors, becoming "directly subordinate agencies" (直属机关). The Shandong SSD praised the 2000 reforms for having "promoted operations, … rationalized organizational structure, and regularized activity."

Operations

Active in operations against the United States, the Shandong SSD and Qingdao SSB handled Shujun Wang as a human intelligence asset in New York City's Chinese dissident community in partnership with the Guangdong SSD.

Leadership

References

1. Faligot, Roger (2019). Chinese Spies: From Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping. Translated by Lehrer, Natasha (2nd ed.). London: Hurst & Company. p. 87. ISBN 9781787380967. In April 1967, following new skirmishes between rival factions of the Red Guards, the Diaochabu headquarters in the West Garden (Xiyuan) were stormed by the PLA, and the service completely shut down. Many leaders were sent to the countryside for "rectification" of their incorrect ideas. Most were sent—not by chance—to Shandong province, Kang Sheng's stronghold; this allowed him to maintain control over his former secret agents, who were now forced to work in the fields in what were called May Seventh Cadre schools. These labour camps were intended as a way of sorting the wheat from the chaff and enabling the ultimate redeployment of "reeducated" functionaries.
2. ^ Joske, Alex (2023). "State security departments: The birth of China's nationwide state security system" (PDF). Deserepi: Studies in Chinese Communist Party external work. 0 (1): 2–13.
3. ^ Schwarck, Edward (2024-11-15). "The Power Vertical: Centralization in the PRC's State Security System". China Brief. 24 (22). Jamestown Foundation.
4. Joske, Alex (2023). "State security departments: The birth of China's nationwide state security system" (PDF). Deserepi. 0 (1).
5. "首页-山东人大门户网站" [Report of Decisions of the Shandong People's Congress]. Shandong People's Congress (in Chinese). 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
6. ^ Huairang, Yue (2015-05-22). "姜联军接棒朱晓强，履新山东省安全厅党委书记、厅长_人事风向_澎湃新闻". The Paper. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2024-12-18.

v t e Ministry of State Security
(MSS Headquarters: Yidongyuan, Xiyuan, Haidian District, Beijing, China)
Organization	Headquarters bureaus Confidential Communication International Intelligence Political & Economic Intelligence Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Analysis and Dissemination Operational Guidance Counterespionage Counterespionage Investigation Internal Security External Security CICIR Social Investigation Bureau CICEC CNITSEC Technical Reconnaissance Institute of Taiwan Studies Imaging Intelligence Enterprises United States California Counterterrorism Municipal bureaus Beijing Detention Center Chongqing Shanghai Tianjin Provincial departments Anhui Fujian Gansu Guangdong Guizhou Hainan Hebei Heilongjiang Henan Hubei Hunan Jiangsu Jiangxi Jilin Liaoning Qinghai Shaanxi Shandong Shanxi Sichuan Yunnan Zhejiang Departments in autonomous regions Guangxi Inner Mongolia Ningxia Tibet Xinjiang XPCC Schools University of International Relations Hangzhou [zh] Jiangnan Social University Research institutes Nanjing Institute of Information Technology Front organizations Nanshan Temple Guanyin of Nanshan China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy China National Technical Import and Export Corporation
Ministers	Ling Yun Jia Chunwang Xu Yongyue Geng Huichang Chen Wenqing Chen Yixin
Major international operations	Chinese intelligence activity abroad Cyberwarfare by China China's peaceful rise
Notable works	State Security Bulletin Journal of Jiangnan Social University Contemporary International Relations
Activities by country	Canada United States African Union

• Provincial organs of the Ministry of State Security (China)
• 1983 establishments in China
• National security institutions
• Intelligence ministries
• Secret police
• Chinese intelligence agencies