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Biography
Ling Yun (Chinese: 凌云; 29 June 1917 – 15 March 2018), born as Wu Peilin (吴沛霖), was a politician of the People's Republic of China, who served as the first Minister of State Security.
Biography
Ling Yun was born in Jiaxing, Zhejiang on 29 June 1917. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in April 1938. After a period of political activism in Shanxi province, he arrived in the central party base in Yan'an, Shaanxi, in 1939. Here he joined and advanced in the ranks of the Central Department of Social Affairs, led, at the time, by Kang Sheng.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China and dissolution of the Social Affairs Department, he served in the public security sector, first in Ji’nan, Shandong, and beginning in 1952 in the Ministry of Public Security, where he advanced to the post of vice-minister. Ling Yun was Minister of State Security from June 1983 to September 1985.