International relationsYang Hengjun's death sentence shows power of China's secret service
Ministry of State Security sends message to would-be pro-democracy activists
This undated, file photo shows Yang Hengjun and his wife Yuan Xiaoliang. © Chongyi Feng/AP
HAMISH MCDONALD, Contributing writer
February 8, 2024 14:51 JST
SYDNEY -- China's Ministry of State Security, with an estimated staff of 110,000, is perhaps the world's biggest intelligence service, but one of the least known to outsiders and certainly not imbued with popular espionage legends like its Western counterparts.