office, as were 63 department heads within the Ministry. Ling himself was expelled from the Communist Party, arrested, tortured by Red Guards, and then sent to do manual labor. After the Cultural Revolution, Ling Yun was restored to all his posts and was again appointed Deputy Ministrer of Public Security in 1978, serving until 1983. In June 1983, Deng Xiaoping, who had risen to supreme power in China, decided to create a new security, intelligence and regime protection agency by merging the counter-intelligence and political security departments of the Ministry of Public Security with the Central Investigation Department (which had been China's primary civilian intelligence apparatus since 1955). Deng did this because he wanted to sideline Luo Qingchang, who had been the Director of the Central Investigation Department since 1973, and strongly opposed Deng's policies (he was loyal to the Maoist legacy). As a result, the new Ministry of State Security was established, and Ling Yun, as an experienced counterintelligence specialist, became the first Minister. Ling remained in office until September 1985, when he retired and was replaced by the much younger Jia Chunwang A centenarian, Ling died in Beijing on March 15, 2018. On March 21, Xinhua News Agency released a message: “An outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a long-tested and loyal communist fighter, Comrade Ling Yun, former Party Secretary and Minister of the Ministry of State Security, died on March 15, 2018 due to illness". On May 13, the People's Daily also published an obituary full of praise. References 1917 births 2018 deaths Chinese centenarians Men centenarians Ministers of State Security of the People's Republic of China Politicians from Jiaxing People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Chinese Communist Party politicians from Zhejiang