How China stifles dissent without a KGB or Stasi of its own

livemint.com:

zhengbao for short). The total number of Chinese police officers is not made public, but is thought to be over 2m. Drawing on provincial, municipal and county yearbooks and publications, Mr Pei estimates that 3-5% of all police work for the zhengbao at the national and local level.

That equates to 60,000-100,000 zhengbao officers, or one for every 14,000-23,000 citizens. They are complemented by the wenbao, a police unit that watches cultural and educational establishments, especially universities.Another elite outfit is the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, a party body. It runs surveillance operations and “stability-maintenance offices" tasked with smothering strikes and protests before they start.

A powerful agency, it oversees security policy generally, and vets police and legal officials for political reliability.China does not need a secret-police agency with millions of officers, the book suggests. That is because its surveillance state rests on other pillars that offer part-time but invaluable help. The first is rank-and-file officers in neighbourhood police stations.

In Chinese propaganda, there is nothing sinister about such police. They are hometown heroes who battle crime and keep the public safe. But tracking political dissent or public discontent is their job, too.