Bureau of Investigation and Statistics

Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (NBIS)
國民政府軍事委員會調查統計局
Guómín zhèngfǔ jūnshì wěiyuánhuì diàochá tǒngjìjú
Intelligence agency overview
Formed1927
Dissolved1946
Superseding agencies
Jurisdiction Nationalist government
Ministers responsible

The National Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (NBIS or BIS; Chinese: 國民政府軍事委員會調查統計局; pinyin: guómín zhèngfǔ jūnshì wěiyuánhuì diàochá tǒngjìjú), commonly known as Juntong (traditional Chinese: 軍統; simplified Chinese: 军统; pinyin: Jūntǒng), was the military intelligence agency of the Republic of China before 1946. It was devoted to intelligence gathering and covert spying operation for purposes of national security and defense. It was originally headed by Dai Li, and after 1946 he was succeeded by Mao Renfeng. This bureau was largely superseded by the Military Intelligence Bureau under the Ministry of National Defense in Taiwan.

The NBIS had a great influence amongst the Nationalist Government's military, police, administration, and transportation agencies, as well as embassies and consulates abroad during the Political Tutelage period (1928–1946) of the Republic of China. It was often criticized by the political dissidents as a "secret police" involved in covert and espionage operation, including surveillance, kidnapping, assassinations, elimination and house-arrest against Chinese communists, Japanese spies as well as political dissidents.

During the Sino-Japanese War, the NBIS was involved in a number of counter-intelligence and covert espionage warfare against the Japanese invaders. There were NBIS agents who defected to the Japanese, and many of the secret police in Wang Jingwei's Japanese-occupied areas were former NBIS agents.

From a historical perspective, NBIS played an important role in Second Sino-Japanese War. Under the leadership of Dai Li, the Nationalist Government had a body of 100,000 active spies involving in espionage warfare against Japanese, as well as against the Wang Jingwei-led puppet Nationalist Government of the Japanese-occupied areas.