Part II: The Ministry of Public Security as Driver of Cyber Policy
The first post in this series highlighted shortcomings in the national citizens’ database in China’s quest for maximized internal security surveillance. Those shortcomings should not conceal the massive influence of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on all aspects of cyber policy in China. As a ministry, the MPS is constituted as operating under the State Council. In practice, however, it operates under the direct control of the Communist Party leadership, under Politburo member Meng Jianzhu, the most recent former minister of the MPS, who leads the Central Political and Legal Commission (CPLC) of the Communist Party and who reports directly to Xi Jinping. The CPLC is one of the most powerful institutions in China. Its former head was Zhou Yongkang, who also served simultaneously as a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, and who has been under investigation since October 2013 for political crimes and corruption.
In his internal security role, Zhou was a vice chair of the leading group responsible for overseeing the country’s informatization. In 2000, China set itself the goal of becoming an advanced information society, where businesses, scientists, and citizens use the most modern information and communications technologies (ICT) to improve performance and enhance social benefit. The leading group for informatization had since 1996 included representatives of key economic and technical ministries, under the direction of a vice premier and with a focus that was mostly economic and scientific/technical. In 2001, it was upgraded and placed under the direction of the premier. In 2002, it became more fully securitized and Zhou, along with his peers from the armed forces, became more active members. In 2014, the leading group was upgraded yet again, being put under the direct control of the Communist Party general secretary, Xi Jinping. The period since 2002 has seen a massive expansion of the influence of the security apparatus over all aspects of informatization policy in the civil economy.
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