The 610 Office

The 610 Office, named for its creation date of June 10, 1999, is an extralegal police task force responsible for carrying out the mission of eliminating Falun Gong. It acts under the direction of high-level officials and the CCP’s Leading Group. Its formal name is the Office of the Leading Group for Prevention and Handling Xiejiao-related (heretic) Issues of the CCP Central Committee. This office has branches throughout the country and operates with significant autonomy and power, often bypassing regular legal and governmental procedures.

Expansive Reach and Brutal Tactics

Established by former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin and announced in a speech to elite cadres a month before Falun Gong was banned, the organization has long existed outside China’s legal framework. Jiang granted it wide-ranging powers to use “every means necessary” to wipe out Falun Gong. Operating in an atmosphere of impunity even after Jiang was replaced by Hu Jintao, the 610 Office has become notorious for its regular use of extreme torture.

Human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng describes being shocked by the extent of the 610’s operations, noting, “The immoral act that has shaken my soul most is the 610 Office and policeman’s regular practice of assaulting women’s genitals. Of those persecuted, almost every woman’s genitals and breasts and every man’s private parts have been sexually assaulted in a most vulgar fashion.” In addition to torture and sexual abuse, 610 Office agents also administratively sentence Falun Gong adherents to labor camps and abduct them straight from their homes to brainwashing classes.

The 610 Office’s real power lies in its ability to force the hands of other Party and government bodies. For instance, Tianjin’s central 610 branch employs 50–60 staff who can directly order the city’s 30,000-strong police force, with one 610 officer often supervising over 100 ordinary policemen. The Central 610 Office directed the arrest of over five thousand Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun in March 2002. Wang Yuhuan, who was arrested at the time and later spoke with Gao, reported that the police ‘interrogated’ all practitioners on the 610 Office’s blacklist every day.

Similarly, when Gao and another lawyer tried visiting their client, a Falun Gong practitioner held in a labor camp, Gao recalls being told that administrators could approve requests to see any inmate. But to see a Falun Gong practitioner, “we would need special approval from the 610 Office,” camp officials said.

Structure and Leadership

The CCP’s Leading Group for Prevention and Handling Xiejiao-related Issues, often referred to as the “Central Leading Group,” is a high-level body established to focus on suppressing religious groups perceived to be existential threats to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This group is typically headed by a member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Politburo, reflecting its significance within the Party’s hierarchy. The Leading Group sets policy directions and coordinates efforts to address what the CCP identifies as “xiejiao” (heterodox teachings), which include groups like Falun Gong. The day to day implementation of these policies is then carried out by the 610 Office.

The 610 Office was formed concurrently as the Leading Group and is named after the date of its creation: June 10, 1999. The office functions outside the state system without any official standing. At its core, the 610 Office is a plainclothes CCP-based extra-ministerial security force focused on suppressing the Falun Gong spiritual group. The Leading Group sets the policy direction, which the 610 Office executes.

Since its establishment, the 610 Office has been led by several directors, all of whom have held significant positions within the CCP and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The directors since 1999 include Wang Maoling, Liu Jing, Li Dongsheng, Liu Jinguo, Fu Zhenghua, Huang Ming, and Sun Lijun. In March 2018, the party-state underwent a restructuring and consolidation process, transferring the responsibilities of the Leading Group and its 610 Office to the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC) and the MPS. According to Freedom House, there has long been a close connection between the 610 Office leadership and the MPS, with all directors since 2001 simultaneously holding the position of Vice Minister for Public Security. The Central 610 Office also shared offices with Bureau 26 of the MPS, also known as the Anti-Cult Bureau, the state agency created parallel to the 610 Office to implement persecution against Falun Gong.

Following the 2018 consolidation, the responsibilities and functions of the former Central 610 Office have been absorbed by other agencies under the MPS and the PLAC. References to the 610 Office continue to appear on some local websites and in victim accounts, but much less frequently than in the past. Furthermore, some former 610 office heads, such as Fu Zhenghua and Peng Bo, have found themselves purged amidst Party infighting and anticorruption campaigns, though not for their roles in the egregious human rights violations carried out by the office they directed.

Despite the restructuring of the CCP’s persecutory apparatus and leadership changes, the regime’s campaign against Falun Gong continues in full force, with recent party documents, speeches, and work reports even revealing a revitalized effort to crack down on the spiritual practice.

Continuing Influence and Legacy

The long-term legacy of the extralegal security force and its “transformation” tactics continue to influence the party’s security apparatus. Fu Zhenghua, who previously headed the 610 Office in 2015-2016, was instrumental in spreading these persecutory methods. Although he was later purged and sentenced to prison on corruption charges, the persecutory tactics he employed have proliferated and been adapted for use against various minority groups. This reflects a broader trend within China’s political and security framework.

This is just one of many ways in which Jiang Zemin’s fateful decision to create the extralegal agency on June 10, 1999 forever changed the lives of millions of people and the trajectory of human rights, the rule of law, and religious freedom in China.

To read more on the 6-10 Office:

• “The Gestapo-like ‘610 Office’,” Falun Dafa Information Center
• “The 610 Office: Policing the Chinese Spirit”, Jamestown Foundation China Brief
• “China’s Gestapo Marks a Decade”, Falun Dafa Information Center
• “In His Own Words”, a former 6-10 Office agent who defected speaks out, The Epoch Times
• “Falun Gong,” The Battle for China’s Spirit, Freedom House