A little-known commission chaired by President Xi Jinping could be poised to take an even bigger role in state security with the leadership’s call for centralised oversight in the area, according to a mainland analyst. The push came amid uncertainties in Beijing’s ties with Washington and challenges to cross-strait affairs, an analyst said. It also reflected a lack of trust in the Ministry of State Security, another said. In a meeting on Friday, the Communist Party’s Politburo endorsed a directive for a “comprehensive approach to national security”, a phrase first aired by Xi at the Central National Security Commission’s initial – and only – meeting, in April 2014, more than a year after the body was founded. The commission’s main task was to protect the nation’s sovereignty, security and developing interests, the Politburo said, according to Xinhua. Chinese presidential ally named new acting mayor of Beijing Apart from Xi, the other known commission members are two vice-chairmen – Premier Li Keqiang and National People’s Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang. Cai Qi was head of its general office until he became acting mayor of Beijing. But no official reports have detailed its structure or composition, aside from saying Xi was the chairman. As the commission for the time being is nothing more than a party organ, the central authority has to seek a legal foundation for it and go through some legal procedures ahead of making it a state organ Li Wei, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations Li Wei, an anti-terrorism researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, said the commission was still a party organ that lacked the legal footing to be a state body. The directive was aimed at clearing the way for the commission to take up a key role in managing state security. “As the commission for the time being is nothing more than a party organ, the central authority has to seek a legal foundation for it and go through some legal procedures ahead of making it a state organ. That’s why the Politburo meeting has underlined the importance of setting up a state security system,” Li said. Home and abroad, China's leaders face many challenges in 2015 Li said the Politburo did not want national security to be the result of separate decisions by various ministries overseeing foreign affairs, the military, public security and the economy. He said the Politburo’s directive came amid a possible shift in international relations, with Donald Trump about to be sworn in as US president. Trump held a protocol-busting phone conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen earlier this month, which Beijing viewed as an affront to the one-China principle. It shows the leadership does not trust the ministry, and they won’t until they make sure it’s in the full control of their trusted people Zhang Lifan, Beijing-based political commentator Beijing-based political commentator Zhang Lifan said Beijing was not yet satisfied with progress on national security. “Beijing has tried to put many areas under the leadership of the security commission, but the construction and adjustment seem to be still under way,” he said. The push to introduce a more streamlined approach came amid a wider clean-up of the Ministry of State Security, launched when Xi rose to power. “It shows the leadership does not trust the ministry, and they won’t until they make sure it’s in the full control of their trusted people,” he said.