Why China's powerful spy agency is emerging from the shadows under Xi Jinping

The Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) is emerging from the shadows.

The powerful spy agency is warning citizens that nefarious foreign agents are everywhere and it needs the public's help to stop them.

But what is MSS? And why is Xi Jinping making himself more known?

Let's take a closer look:

What is this?

According to The Diplomat, The MSS is the central agency of China's state security apparatus.

The MSS exercises some control over its counterparts at lower levels of the bureaucracy.

According to PRCleader.org, The MSS is one of two agencies, the other being the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), that manages surveillance in China.

The MSS was created in 1983.

This is the result of a union between the CCP's Central Investigation Department (CID) and the MPS counterintelligence unit.

According to the website, it is arguably China's most clandestine security agency.

Little is known about its MSS organization, size, and operational tactics.

Local governments began creating MSS departments after its establishment.

However, this is not the case in all jurisdictions.

In Shijingshan, Beijing, for example, an MSS unit was not established until decades later, in 2005.

Its main missions are to conduct counterespionage operations domestically and abroad.

The MSS is specifically interested in people suspected of having links abroad or of belonging to ethnic minorities.

The website says local SSBs screen foreign nationals and those from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

The Qufus SSB chief was quoted as saying that his unit was constantly aware of the situation of full-time foreign nationals and individuals from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in the late 1990s.

According to The diplomatuntil the 1990s, the MSS did not have access to Chinese embassy slots.

This is also why many known cases of MSS operations involve foreigners invited to China, then cultivated, and ultimately introduced to become MSS assets. State security systems prefer to work on targets when they are in China, the article notes.

The MSS Bureau of Social Investigation reportedly played a key role in influencing foreign elites.

It was essential in developing and promoting the theory of China's peaceful rise to articulate the idea that China would become powerful without threatening the West or seeking to revise the existing international order, notes the article.

He adds that MSS cadres pose as reformist academics while speaking to foreign academics, diplomats and policymakers and pushing theories such as China is becoming a democracy.

Under the projectors

The agency gradually became known to the public.

According to CNNThe MSS allowed the public to contact it for the first time in 2015 via a hotline and website.

Citizens were urged to report any threats to national security.

That year, the state chose April 15 to commemorate National Safety Education Day.

In 2020, China's National Security Propaganda Studio began producing posters and animations to alert people of the dangers of foreign elements.

In 2021, the MSS held its first question-and-answer session with state media, giving the population a better idea of ​​itself.

An MSS education and propaganda official even appeared in prime time on state broadcaster CCTV, which state media took note of.

In August, the MSS made its most high-profile move to date: launching its own account on WeChat.

He asked all members of society to contribute to the fight against foreign infiltration.

Why is Xi increasing his visibility?

The move comes as Xi, facing a host of domestic and foreign challenges, seeks to strengthen his grip on China.

Xi also seeks to bring the issue of national security to the forefront.

These efforts aim to raise awareness about counter-espionage and strengthen security measures in light of the evolving espionage threat landscape, said Xuezhi Guo, a political science professor at Guilford College in the United States. -United. CNN.

The aim is to equip Chinese citizens and entities with the knowledge and skills necessary to enhance their vigilance and effectively prevent espionage activities.

Sheena Chestnut Greitens, director of the Asian Politics Program at the University of Texas at Austin, told CNN that MSS's decision to establish a social media presence is an anomaly given its traditionally low profile.

Greitens, who has examined China's security apparatus, added that the appointment of Chen Yixin, who served Xi during his time in Zhejiang province, as minister of state security could be a major reason for this decision.

Chen has argued for years that new media are important in guiding public opinion on the party's political-legal and national security work. So it seems part of that is because he's put his personal stamp on the department's work, Greitens said.

The missions of the MSS are also expanding.

According to CNN, the MSS is closely linked to Xi's overall concept of national security.

This includes politics, economics, defense, culture, ecology, cyberspace, big data and artificial intelligence, and extends from the deep sea and polar regions of the Earth to the space.

The MSS now takes on a much broader range of activities, including what some in the foreign affairs community perceive as ordinary, everyday business behavior, Xuezhi Guo, a political science professor at Guilford College in the United States, told the outlet. -United.

This expansion also extends to the state's power to investigate and seize electronic devices, computers and digital assets, raising heightened cybersecurity concerns.

How big will the role of the MSS in China be under Xi?

That remains to be seen.

With the contribution of agencies