Commentary Amid Xi Jinping’s recent anti-corruption campaign that targets China’s political and legal system, many officials who were recently taken down were part of the “610 Office.” On Oct. 24, China’s eastern province of Jiangsu announced that Chen Yizhong, former deputy director of the provincial public security department, is under investigation. The announcement also noted Chen’s previous post as the director of the provincial 610 Office. The 610 Office is a Gestapo-like organization that was established by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under former leader Jiang Zemin on June 10, 1999—hence its name—formally known as the “Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions.” It was established for the sole purpose of carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual meditation practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The practice became enormously popular—with roughly 100 million adherents in China by 1999, according to official …