When China’s Communist Party disciplinary agency announced that Liu Jinguo, head of the shady extralegal force termed “China’s Gestapo“ by human rights activists, had stopped working that job in January, they didn’t care to announce a successor.
On May 26, a note appeared on the website of the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, saying that Lin Jinguo, who headed the 610 Office and serves as the commission’s deputy secretary, had resigned from the former post this January. It is not known who, if anyone, has been appointed to replace Liu as 610 Office head.
Named for the date of its creation—June 10, 1999—the 610 Office is a Communist Party security agency formed by regime head Jiang Zemin to eradicate the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. It operates outside the law, but its agents have authority at every level of the Party and the state.
