Central Security Bureau of the Communist Party of China
The Central Security Bureau is the chief Security Detail military bureau responsible for the security of senior Chinese government, Communist Party, and military leaders. The Bureau controls the People's Liberation Army's Central Guard Unit.
History
Activated in 1949, in Xibaipo, Hebei, the bureau was an independent PLA security regiment that did not report to the Beijing Military Region. Instead, it was subordinated to the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission and commanded by a Senior Colonel of the People’s Armed Police.When first formed in 1949, this unit included a single brigade consisted of 3 regiments, with the largest one being the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the Public Security Army of PLA. The 5th Regiment and the 6th Regiment were from PLA units in Shandong and Northeast China respectively. Due to its important missions, the brigade sized unit was given a division unit status, and hence its original name, the 2nd Division of the PSA of PLA. Two years later, the unit was renamed as the Central Guard Division in 1951, and the 4th, 5th & 6th Regiments were renamed as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Regiment respectively, with the 1st regiment being the largest, totaling more than a thousand soldiers.
On Jun 9, 1953, the unit went through another and its most significant reorganization. The 1st Regiment of the 2nd Division of the PSA of PLA became an independent unit in Zhongnanhai, sole responsible for the missions of VIP protection. The regiment was renamed as the Central Guard Regiment, and was placed under the direct control of the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China. A 9th Bureau was formed within the MPS for the new missions, with future Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Dongxing as the bureau chief, Zhang Yaosi as the deputy bureau chief, reporting directly to the then MPS Minister Luo Ruiqing. After Luo Ruiqing's fall from power in 1965, Wang Dongxing was put in charge as the party boss of the regiment, and eventually he would be removed from this important position after his own downfall from power after the end of Cultural Revolution.
In comparison to the drastic change in the top leadership, the command of the Central Guard Regiment itself had experienced much more stable leadership. When the regiment was first formed and named in Zhongnanhai in 1953, Zhang Yaosi, the deputy bureau chief of the 9th Bureau of MPS of PRC was also named as the regimental commander, Zhang Hong was named as the deputy regimental commander and regimental chief-of-staff, Yang Dezhong was named as the political commissar, Wang Huayu was named as the deputy political commissar and the director of the political directorate, and Wang Lianlong was named as the deputy director of the political directorate. The regimental officers would remain in their respective posts for the next few decades.
During the same year of the most significant reorganization, the unit begun to use the designation assigned to it for the very first time. The very first designation given to the unit in 1953 was General Character 001, with General refers to the General Staff Headquarter of PLA. This designation was used until the end of 1950's, when it was changed to "3437". In 1964, designation "3437" was replaced by "8341", a designation originally used for a strategic warehouse of PLA. When the warehouse was deactivated and closed down, the General Staff Headquarter of PLA reassigned the "8341" designation to the Central Guard Regiment, and it was used for almost 8 years, when it replaced by "57003" in 1971. 8341 became the most famous and well known designation for the unit and although it is no longer used since 1971, many still refer the regiment as Unit 8341 today. After 8341, the unit was briefly designated as "57003" during the purge of the Chinese military after Lin Biao's death in 1971, but soon the designation was changed to "57001", the last known designation to the public, which is rumored still in use today. The original reason for assigning designation was for security reasons and soldiers of the regiment were not allowed to put down the name and address when writing to their relatives and friends, but simply putting down Unit 8341 or other designations instead.
Since its activation in 1949, the unit has guarded all the past Chinese leaders, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Hua Guofeng, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and their immediate families. The unit is credited with helping to end the Cultural Revolution when Wang Dongxing, then head of unit 8341, supported the coup d'etat led by Marshal Ye Jianying against the Gang of Four in September 1976. When the unit was first formed, it had high requirement for enlistment: any candidates must be a junior-high school graduate, a requirement that does not appear to be much today, but it was considered tough back in the early 1950s, when over half of the Chinese population was illiterate. The unit was prohibited from participating in any public parade, with only a single exception: after the arrest of the Gang of Four, a huge celebration was held in October 1976 in Beijing, and the unit was granted permission to participate in this single public event.
Structure
The total strength of the unit is more than eight thousand, organized into 7 groups totaling 36 squadrons, each having its own mission: the first group is responsible for Zhongnanhai and surrounding areas, the second group was formerly responsible for Maojiawan, Lin Biao's former residence, but is currently responsible for the base camp. This base camp contains several barracks of the unit in central and in northwest Beijing near the Western Hills. The fourth group is responsible for Jade Spring Mountain and surrounding areas, and the fifth group is responsible for Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and surrounding areas. The seventh group is responsible for a VIP residence in Beidaihe District. Groups eight and nine are mobile reserves. The 1st Squadron of the first group is tasked to protect the General Secretary of the Communist Party, while the 3rd Squadron of the first group is tasked to protect the Premier of the State Council. After Lin Biao's death, an eighth group was formed, and armed with anti-aircraft artillery, tasked for air defense, but it was soon disbanded.The area of responsibility was divided into outer and inner security zones, with inner zone has higher security measures. The inner zone is further divided into three categories and the higher the category, the more strict the security measures. Security details assigned to higher level zones can enter lower level zones, but not vice versa. In addition to sentries and patrols, plain cloth agents were also deployed for security missions. Because the unit was deployed in the high-profile areas in the capital, those who are doing security details are issued better uniforms to provide a better image for China. As soon as the security detail has been completed, soldiers must immediately return the better uniforms upon their return and change to the standard PLA uniforms that are worn by regular non-elite units.
In addition to the seven groups, there are two additional permanent units of the Central Security Bureau. The first consists of a small factory of less than a hundred workers, while the other is a farm located in Jade Spring Mountain. Both were established to provide supplies to the need of the Chinese leadership for security reasons, because ordinary factories were not allowed to manufacture the goods the Chinese leadership needed for its daily life, though this practice has been significantly reduced after Chinese economic reform began. Though the factory is small, it has adopted most advanced technologies available to China and the factory maintained over four dozen highly digitised and computerised machine tools that are capable of producing a wide range of products, including parts for the Chinese nuclear weapon programs several decades back when the program first began. The majority of the goods produced were consumer goods. The produce from this small factory was once exported, but this practice has been abandoned.
The farm at Jade Spring Mountain was originally a ranch for the military horses, because the unit originally had a cavalry squadron, and many top Chinese leaders regular visited the ranch for horse riding and target practice. After the cavalry squadron was disbanded, the ranch was converted to a farm, producing all the food the top Chinese leaders needed, and a portion of the unit's own need. The farm has been practicing organic farming since its establishment, and had never used any pesticide or chemical fertilizers. As a result, the yield was not as high as other farms in China where pesticide and chemical fertilizer are used. The majority of farm's the agricultural output is rice.
Formation and duties
While the Central Security Bureau has a full regiment size of combat ready troops, its commander is typically a Regiment size ranking officer – a Major General. The bureau’s current commander is Lt. General Wang Shaojun.Along with the personal safety of senior Chinese government, party, and military leaders, the bureau is also responsible for protecting the office and living quarters of the leaders. Locations such as Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the Great Hall of the People, Jade Spring Mountain, Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Tiananmen, and Zhongnanhai are all guarded by the unit. The area of responsibility was once greatly expanded during Cultural Revolution, but has since shrunk back to the original size after the end of Cultural Revolution.