National Security Committee

The State Security Committee (国家安全委员会) is a central government agency to be established for improving systems and strategies to ensure national security, according to a communiqué issued on November 12 after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said "all those forces who would tend to threaten or sabotage China's national security will feel nervous" at a regular press briefing on November 13.

The establishment was first proposed in 1997, when the former Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the U.S. National Security Council during his trip to the country.

In addition, similar councils have been set up in Brazil, Chile, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand and Malaysia to coordinate security strategies across various departments and give advices to heads of a state, absorbing members from the diplomatic, military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

A committee under the Japanese Diet’s lower house has passed a bill on establishing a U.S.-style National Security Council. The committee aims to make and coordinate Japan’s foreign and security policies.