Dong Jingwei

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Dong Jingwei

| country = {{flag|People's Republic of China}}

| office = Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the CPG in the HKSAR

| termstart = 18 July 2023

| termend =

| deputy = Li Jiangzhou
Sun Qingye

| predecessor = Zheng Yanxiong

| successor =

| office1 = Vice Minister of State Security

| premier1 = Li Keqiang
Li Qiang

| minister1 = Chen Wenqing
Chen Yixin

| alongside1 = Tang Chao

| office2 = Director of the Political Department
of the Ministry of State Security

| termstart2 = April 2017

| termstart1 = April 2018

| termend1 = July 2023

| premier2 = Li Keqiang

| minister2 = Chen Wenqing

| children = 1

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|11|18}}

| party = Chinese Communist Party

| footnotes = {{Collapsible list

|titlestyle = background-color:#FCF;text-align:center;

|title = Central institution membership

|bullets = on

| 18th, 19th National Congress

| 13th People's Political Consultative Conference}}

| native_name_lang = zh

| native_name = {{nobold|董经纬}}

| termend2 = April 2018

| image =

| caption = Dong while meeting Hellenic Police chief
Eleftherios Oikonomou in October 2019

| occupation = Spymaster, politician

| width = 230px

| residence = Beijing, China

| birth_place = Zhao County, Hebei, China

}}

Dong Jingwei ({{zh|s=董经纬|p=Dǒng Jīngwěi}}; born 18 November 1963) is a Chinese politician and intelligence officer who served as a Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) from 2018 to 2023 and currently the head of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong since 2023. Prior to that he served as the MSS head of counterintelligence.

Early life and career

= Intelligence career =

Dong's career in national security began with more than a decade of service as director of the Hebei provincial State Security Department (SSD), a regional unit of the Ministry of State Security.{{Cite web |date=March 25, 2008 |title=河北省十一届人大常委会任命名单 |trans-title=List of appointments by the Standing Committee of the Eleventh People's Congress of Hebei Province |url=http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/szyw/200803/25/t20080325_14954152.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524113218/http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/szyw/200803/25/t20080325_14954152.shtml |archive-date=May 24, 2018 |access-date=2021-06-18 |website=Economic Daily |language=zh}} He led the department from February 2006 to March 30, 2017. During that time he was active in communist party politics, and involved in several regional committees and conferences. In 2007, he was appointed to the 7th Hebei Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).{{Cite web |date=July 3, 2007 |title=新一届中共省级党委常委、委员、候补委员名单 |trans-title=List of members, members and alternate members of the new provincial party committee of the Chinese Communist Party |url=http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/szyw/200707/03/t20070703_12046910_2.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707101952/http://www.ce.cn:80/xwzx/gnsz/szyw/200707/03/t20070703_12046910_2.shtml |archive-date=July 7, 2007 |access-date=2021-06-18 |website=Economic Daily |language=zh}} In 2010, reports surfaced from Paris-based Intelligence Online that Dong had carried out orders from superiors in Beijing to arrest four Japanese employees of the Fujita Corporation who "were filming in a forbidden military zone", a move the publication described as a power play by senior officials within the MSS against then-President and General Secretary Hu Jintao.{{Cite web |date=2010-10-21 |title=Chinese State Security flexes muscle |url=https://www.intelligenceonline.com/grey-areas/2010/10/21/chinese-state-security-flexes-muscle,85857783-art |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922213413/https://www.intelligenceonline.com/grey-areas/2010/10/21/chinese-state-security-flexes-muscle,85857783-art |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |access-date=2021-06-18 |website=Intelligence Online |language=en}} His loyalty to superiors, age and regional background won him favor with senior party officials under Hu's successor, Xi Jinping, with Dong soon becoming a part of the Xi Jinping faction, the dominant political faction in the communist party.{{Cite news |last=Wo-Lap Lam |first=Willy |author-link=Willy Wo-Lap Lam |date=February 7, 2014 |title=Members of the Xi Jinping Clique Revealed |url=https://jamestown.org/program/members-of-the-xi-jinping-clique-revealed/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220143752/https://jamestown.org/program/members-of-the-xi-jinping-clique-revealed/ |archive-date=December 20, 2019 |access-date=2021-06-25 |website=The Jamestown Foundation |language=en-US}} By 2018, Intelligence Online reported that Dong was close to Xi, observing that “he previously headed the Guo'anbu in the region of Hebei, a province which has produced many of Xi's securocrats."{{Cite web |date=2015-06-24 |title="Hebei Gang" triumph in Zhou trial |url=https://www.intelligenceonline.com/government-intelligence/2015/06/24/hebei-gang-triumph-in-zhou-trial,108079463-art |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905155332/http://www.intelligenceonline.com/government-intelligence/2015/06/24/hebei-gang-triumph-in-zhou-trial,108079463-ART |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |access-date=2021-06-18 |website=Intelligence Online |language=en}}

On April 1, 2017, Dong was promoted from regional intelligence operations to a national posting in Beijing, appointed director of the Political Department of the MSS (Bureau No. 3). He was promoted quickly within the agency, and almost exactly a year later in late April 2018, he was appointed to his current position, Vice Minister of State Security.{{Cite web|last=Wang|first=Yan|date=April 26, 2018|title=Dong Jingwei became Deputy Minister of National Security and worked in Hebei for a long time.|url=http://toutiao.chinaso.com/sz/detail/20180426/1000200032983361524742958743244689_1.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-18|website=toutiao.chinaso.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201008/http://toutiao.chinaso.com/sz/detail/20180426/1000200032983361524742958743244689_1.html |archive-date=June 24, 2021 }}{{Cite web|date=April 27, 2018|title=董经纬任国家安全部副部长_中国经济网——国家经济门户|url=http://district.ce.cn/newarea/sddy/201804/27/t20180427_28964361.shtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202092938/http://district.ce.cn/newarea/sddy/201804/27/t20180427_28964361.shtml|archive-date=February 2, 2020|access-date=2021-06-18|website=State Council of the People's Republic of China}}{{Cite web |date=2018-09-26 |title=Berlin and Beijing sets spying on the table |url=https://www.intelligenceonline.com/government-intelligence/2018/09/26/berlin-and-beijing-sets-spying-on-the-table,108325291-art |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201350/https://www.intelligenceonline.com/government-intelligence/2018/09/26/berlin-and-beijing-sets-spying-on-the-table,108325291-art |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |access-date=2021-06-18 |website=Intelligence Online |language=en}} With higher office, his political stature continued to grow, serving as a representative at the communist party's 18th and 19th National Congress, and serving as a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.{{Cite web|title=Dong Jingwei|url=https://www.chinalaw.org.cn/portal/page/index/id/25143.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126043739/https://www.chinalaw.org.cn/portal/page/index/id/25143.html|archive-date=November 26, 2020|access-date=2021-06-18|website=Chinese Law Society}} In March 2019, he was named a vice president of the Eighth Council of the {{Interlanguage link|Chinese Law Society|lt=|zh|中国法学会}}.

Defection rumors

In June 2021, rumors began to surface first in Chinese social media, and soon in international news media suggesting Dong had defected in mid-February, flying from Hong Kong to the United States with his adult daughter, Dong Yang.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/top-chinese-spy-defects-to-us-to-spill-wuhan-lab-secrets-fgrtv626r|title=Top Chinese spy 'defects to US to spill Wuhan lab secrets'|author=Alistair Dawber|date=July 18, 2023 |work=The Times}} The rumors claimed Dong had provided key information about the Wuhan Institute of Virology and China's biological weapons program that changed the stance of the Biden administration concerning the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite news|last1=Brazil|first1=Matthew|last2=Stein|first2=Jeff|date=2021-06-17|title=Rumors of U.S. Secretly Harboring Top China Official Swirl|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/rumors-of-us-secretly-harboring-top-china-official-dong-jingwei-swirl|access-date=2021-06-18}} Citing an unnamed source, Han Lianchao, defected former Chinese foreign ministry official, alleged that China's foreign minister Wang Yi and Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi had demanded Dong’'s return. In the report by Spytalk on June 17, former U.S. intelligence officer Nicholas Eftimiades described the rumor as "exactly what it is, a rumor. It happens all the time", but called Han "a straight shooter, not known to exaggerate in any way or form… trusted for his integrity."

Within 24 hours of SpyTalk's June 17 exposé, Chinese state media reported that Dong has made an appearance at an MSS seminar, urging China’s intelligence officers to "step up their efforts to hunt down foreign agents and insiders who collude with 'anti-China' forces.{{cite news |date=18 June 2021 |title=国家安全部：既要抓间谍，又要抓"内奸"和"幕后金主" |url=http://www.chinapeace.gov.cn/chinapeace/c100007/2021-06/18/content_12500481.shtml |access-date=22 June 2021 |work=Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission |language=zh}} A South China Morning Post report about Dong's comments mentioned a "22-year-old journalism student, identified only by his surname Tian, [who has] been accused of providing information to an unnamed Western country to smear China."{{Cite web|last=Zheng|first=William|date=2021-06-18|title=Top Chinese spy catcher warns agents to look out for foreign agents|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137958/top-chinese-spy-catcher-dong-jingwei-warns-agents-look-out|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-18|website=South China Morning Post|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618154515/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3137958/top-chinese-spy-catcher-dong-jingwei-warns-agents-look-out |archive-date=June 18, 2021 }} Tian was tried behind closed doors in 2020. However, the original state media report included neither the location of the seminar, nor any audiovisual record of Dong's presence; further heightening suspicions of Dong's true status.{{cite news |title=Chinese Defector Mystery Deepens |url=https://www.spytalk.co/p/chinese-defector-mystery-deepens |access-date=22 June 2021 |work=SpyTalk |date=21 June 2021}}{{Cite web|last=Galloway|first=Anthony|date=June 20, 2021|title='Wouldn't normally comment': Marise Payne declines to confirm rumoured Chinese defection|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/wouldn-t-normally-comment-marise-payne-declines-to-confirm-rumoured-chinese-defection-20210620-p582jf.html|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}

Following scattered reports and rumors of his whereabouts, on June 22 an unnamed senior official within the Biden administration gave Spytalk what it called a "definitive" denial. Eftimiades told SpyTalk the unattributed denial from a senior U.S. official was "stunning", and "likely coordinated at the highest levels", calling the saga a closed issue: “game, set, match.”{{Cite web|last=Stein|first=Jeff|date=June 22, 2021|title=Feds: We Don't Have Chinese Defector Dong Jingwei|url=https://www.spytalk.co/p/feds-we-dont-have-chinese-defector|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-24|website=Spytalk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622221414/https://www.spytalk.co/p/feds-we-dont-have-chinese-defector |archive-date=June 22, 2021 }} The meeting was noted by the Chinese Embassy in Washington, though some Chinese netizens have questioned the veracity of the footage.{{Cite web |title=Commentary: China may have a spy problem of its own |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/china-dong-jingwei-wuhan-lab-leak-theory-defect-spy-espionage-1986496 |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=CNA |language=en}} No on the record comments have been released on the matter by either government.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

In its assessment of the saga on June 26, China-focused political risk consultancy SinoInsider concluded "it is very possible that the bulk of defector rumors are classic CCP disinformation operations designed to muddy the waters on the topic and ruin the credibility of the international media, Chinese dissidents, and world governments".{{Cite web|date=2021-06-26|title=Analyzing the case of Dong Jingwei and Chinese defector rumors|url=https://sinoinsider.com/2021/06/analyzing-the-case-of-dong-jingwei-and-chinese-defector-rumors/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-15|website=SinoInsider|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628100532/https://sinoinsider.com/2021/06/analyzing-the-case-of-dong-jingwei-and-chinese-defector-rumors/ |archive-date=June 28, 2021 }}

Hong Kong national security chief

On 18 July 2023, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu welcomed Dong's appointment to lead the Office for Safeguarding National Security, which oversees national security in Hong Kong.{{Citation |title=Government of HKSAR press release |url=https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202307/18/P2023071800916.htm |access-date=2023-07-19}}{{Cite web |date=2023-07-19 |title=Deputy minister in counter-espionage service new Hong Kong national security head |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3228157/deputy-minister-mainland-chinas-counter-espionage-services-new-national-security-chief-hong-kong |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}

On 31 March 2025, Dong was among six officials in Hong Kong and Mainland China sanctioned by the United States for their role in persecuting exiled pro-democracy activists.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-31 |title=US sanctions 6 Chinese and Hong Kong officials, drawing backlash from the city's government |url=https://apnews.com/article/us-sanctions-hong-kong-china-officials-ed07f314f1f19ee825e0b162822f04c2 |access-date=1 April 2025 |website=AP News |language=en}}

Personal life

Dong is a native of Zhao County, Hebei province. Educated in China, his postgraduate studies include a Masters of Science. He has a daughter, Dong Yang.