China’s top police chief warns law enforcement to stay alert to risk of ‘colour revolution’ ahead of major Communist Party gathering
- Public Security Minister Wang Xiahong urges security forces to uphold stability ahead of national congress in article for major party journal
- Wang also hails mainland police’s role in supporting implementation of Hong Kong security law and pledges loyalty to Xi Jinping
Xi article gives insight into China’s direction ahead of party congress
“Always place the prevention of political security risks first, coordinate efforts within and outside the country, online and offline, and carry out in-depth anti-infiltration, anti-subversion, anti-terrorist and anti-secession struggles to vigorously safeguard the security of state power, institutions and ideology.
Beijing has long accused the US of inciting colour revolutions worldwide by infiltrating and subverting other countries to maintain its hegemony on the international stage.
Wang also took pride in Beijing’s efforts to support Hong Kong’s national security law.
“We firmly supported the Hong Kong and the Macau Police Force and other disciplined forces in performing their duties in accordance with the law, to ensure the effective implementation of the Hong Kong Basic Law, the Hong Kong national security law and other laws, to help Hong Kong achieve a major turnaround from chaos to governance, to maintain harmony and stability in Macau, and to escort the policy of ‘one country, two systems’,” Wang said.
He also affirmed his loyalty to the leader, writing: “[We] must resolutely follow orders from General Secretary Xi Jinping under any circumstance, and follow the direction of the party’s central leadership.”
The article urged the public security authorities to “resolutely fight all words and activities that contradict and damage the ‘two upholds” – the concept of upholding Xi’s core position in the party and its Central Committee, as well as the Central Committee’s authority and its centralised, unified leadership.
Wang also pledged to purge the public security system of the influence of two disgraced senior officials, writing: “Resolutely fight against all words and activities that contradict and damage the ‘two upholds’; resolutely and thoroughly purge the evil political power of Zhou Yongkang, Sun Lijun, and their disloyal and dishonest allies.”
China urges SCO states to ward off foreign-backed ‘colour revolutions’
The article was published a month before the 20th party congress, where Xi is tipped to secure a third term as the party’s head, making him the most powerful leader in decades, while the rest of the top leadership is overhauled.
Wang, who became China’s top police chief in June, is seen as a protégé of Xi. He served under Xi as a police chief and a vice-minister of public security until he was promoted in June.
He has also been appointed as deputy secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the party’s top legal organ, according to its official website.
In the article, he also wrote that China had one of the lowest homicide rates in the world and hailed the success of a crackdown on organised crime.
“In 2021, the number of cases filed for major criminal offences dropped by 64.4 per cent compared with 2012 … We have knocked down 3,633 gangster-related organisations and 11,000 syndicate-organised crimes, solved 246,000 criminal cases and 1,227,000 cases of telecommunication fraud,” Wang wrote.
