He Shouwei: Safeguarding the Country's Border with Technological Ingenuity

"We will be committed to empowering policing with technology so as to live up to our pledge to the Party and the people of maintaining the peace and prosperity of our country，" announced He Shouwei in his speech at the Cloud Commendation Ceremony in tribute to role models of the national immigration authorities on June 16. In another award ceremony to honor heroes from the national public security system， He was awarded the title of "Super Role Model of the National People's Police，" and at the same time， the Identification Document Research Center of the Beijing General Station of Immigration Inspection where he works was rated a "Merit Grassroots Organ of the National Public Security System".

What's the responsibility of the Identification Document Research Center？ How come He Shouwei was awarded the title of "Super Role Model of the National People's Police"？ What are their stories？

"The Forgery Combating Squad"

Known as "the first screen to safeguard national security"， the Beijing General Station of Immigration Inspection is affiliated with the National Immigration Administration and mainly responsible for immigration inspection at the Beijing ports.

If an immigration officer suspects a traveler during border inspection， he or she needs to first determine the authenticity of the holder's identification documents. "The task of our Identification Document Research Center is just to help authenticate the ID documents，" explained He Shouwei.

Since its inception in 2012， the center has screened more than 250，000 identification documents and identified 2，500 forged ones， and therefore is widely hailed as "the forgery-combating squad defending China's border" .

Fake IDs literally jeopardize national security. Amid the appalling 9/11 attacks in 2001， the terrorists snuck on board using fake passports for disguise; in the London Underground bombings in 2005 and the Paris terrorist attack in 2015， there were also false IDs at play. It's fair to say that most international terrorist activities are somehow linked with forged IDs and a counterfeit passport sometimes can be more devastating than real weapons. Many gruesome realities have told us that the security of immigration documents has a direct bearing on the national security.

A high risk of misjudgment in ID verification has put He Shouwei and his colleagues under considerable stress. Moreover， they are inexperienced rookies in this area， comparing unfavorably with their counterparts in developed countries.

The Beijing General Station of Immigration Inspection， however，  has a unique advantage. As one of the busiest ports in northeast Asia with as many as 26.6 million annual cross-border travelers， it has dealt with over 2，000 types of passports and visas issued by governments of more than 200 countries and regions. In this sense， the station is a natural data bank for ID research and thus paves the way for the center's further development.

The center started from the basics and eventually built up the largest database within the country's public security system， composed of as many as 17，000 real ID samples.

"Normally， when a country issues a new version of immigration documents， it will provide two samples for other governments involved. In China， one of the two copies is put on record in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， and the other is kept in our center，" said He Shouwei proudly.

Apart from ID samples， the treasure trove also has in place the fake documents seized at the capital ports. That's why it can provide backup support in ID verification for immigration authorities at all levels across China.

"We often organize training sessions for frontline officers of the general station so that they can keep their professional expertise updated，" He explained， adding， "The concept of life-long learning fits well in our center. It is common to see a policeman in his 50s sitting in class with reading glasses." He Shouwei has given lessons on so many occasions that his colleagues now kindly address him as Teacher He.

In Teacher He's own mind， however， he is no different from his colleagues. "There are over 20 officers in our center， each focused on a specific field， such as biometric identification based on portraits or fingerprints， electronic chips and autograph penmanship." He continued， "I myself specialize in printing related area， including printing ink， paper， inspection devices and other hardware. We will examine a passport design on account of its historical and cultural background and verify its authenticity based on multi-disciplinary knowledge including paper making， printing， chemistry， physics， biometric characteristics and trace detection skills before we can finally identify the ID holders as well as their travel purposes. Our mission is 'to guarantee no single fake document will bluff its way out'."

Making Passports "Talk"

When it comes to ID verification， He Shouwei has something to offer： "Passports， like our currency Renminbi， involve many forgery-proof technologies， and our job is to decode the encrypted messages and make passports 'talk'."