A Public Security Bureau (PSB) () of a city or county, or Public Security Department (PSD) () of a province or autonomous region, in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...
refers to a government office essentially acting as a
police station
A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...
or a local or provincial
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...
/
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
; the smallest police stations are called police posts (). The PSB/PSD system is similar in concept to the Japanese
Kōban system, and is present in each province and municipality. Typically, a PSB/PSD handles policing,
public security, and
social order
The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social order ...
. Other duties include residence registration ("
hukou") and internal and external
migration matters, such as the registration of temporary residents (including both foreign and domestic visitors).
The system of public security bureaus is administered by the
Ministry of Public Security (MPS), which co-ordinates the work of provincial public security departments that are also answerable to the local governments and provincial party secretaries. PSB's located in each province are jointly supervised by the central government as well as provincial governments, an arrangement that is supposedly supposed to prevent corruption and unchecked influence by provincial (The equivalent of state) general secretaries (The equivalent of state governors). Provincial public security bureaus in turn administer county or district level public security sub-bureaus and branch bureaus, which perform a role similar to larger police stations. The lowest level outposts are police posts, which perform a role similar to small local police stations.
The network of public security bureaus and the Ministry of Public Security should not be confused with the separate but parallel network of state security bureaus/state security departments, administered at the national level by the
Ministry of State Security (MSS), which is responsible for external and internal intelligence, and performing a "
secret police" or
security police role responsible for pre-remptive response to '
mass incidents' (Chinese terminology for protests or social disturbances) and internal security. The two systems are administratively separate, although at local levels they co-operate to a large extent and often share resources and internal security bureaus are structured as units or departments within public security bureau's (PSB's) to allow for closer and more effective integrated operations and cooperation as needed.
Most major Chinese cities will have a PSB assigned to deal with local security needs. Each province, municipality and autonomous region (excluding the
special administrative regions of
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
and
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, which have their own police forces, the
Hong Kong Police Force and the
Public Security Police Force of Macau) has a provincial-level Public Security Department or municipal PSB to deal with provincial security issues.
In 2016, the
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
PSD signed a partnership agreement with
Huawei. In 2019, the same PSD and its subordinate municipal PSBs were sanctioned by the U.S. State Department for their role in human rights abuses against the
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
.
In October 2022, various news outlets reported that the MPS had opened
clandestine police stations overseas.
Roles and responsibilities
* Fire Services
* Traffic
* VIP Protection
* Immigration and Visitor Affairs
* Public security
* Crime Control
* Public Safety and Information
See also
*
Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
**
Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau
The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau () is a department of the municipal government of Beijing. It serves as the city's public security bureau and branch of the people's police under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) The headquarters ...
References
External links
*
Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Security*
Bureau of Public Security of Guangzhou Municipality
{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Security Bureau
Ministry of Public Security (China)