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Saturday 22 August 2009
The men who make up gangs of Chongqing
They are former inmates, disillusioned police officers and jobless migrants struggling to survive in an ever growing metropolis. But they are also budding bureaucrats, successful businessmen and even the offspring of the local political elite.
Choi Chi-yuk in Chongqing and Ng Tze-wei 22 August 2009
They are former inmates, disillusioned police officers and jobless migrants struggling to survive in an ever growing metropolis. But they are also budding bureaucrats, successful businessmen and even the offspring of the local political elite.
As the dust starts to settle on a massive crackdown on organised crime in Chongqing, a picture is emerging of the kaleidoscopic cast of characters who spread their claws into almost every corner of life in the south-western municipality.
The crackdown has made national headlines not only because of its scale, but because of the profile of these arrested. More than 1,500 have been detained or formally arrested so far, including three billionaires, 50 government officials, six district police chiefs and the head of the municipality’s justice bureau, Wen Qiang. Several of the gang bosses were members of the local legislature.
One former gang leader, now reformed, said members of his gang were from all walks of life.
“Most of the foot soldiers were freed prisoners, former police officers or even the handicapped,” said the man, who called himself Jiang.
The top men are normally from big families. “You all know there are princelings in politics. But there are also princelings in the criminal gangs,” another man, who has detailed knowledge of the workings of Chongqing gangs, said.
This man said one such princeling, Wang Yunan, ran an underground casino until he was jailed nine years ago when one of his henchmen gunned down an undercover police officer. Wang was the son of a retired chief of police in the city. Another well-known gangster, Wang Ping, was the grandson of a prestigious Red Army member.
Chongqing, known for its dense fogs, furnace-like heat and fiery hotpot, was a centre of gang activities well before the founding of the People’s Republic. Some say the hot tempers and fierce loyalty of its residents made the city ideal for the growth of underworld societies.
Sitting at the intersection of the Yangtze River and two others, Chongqing has always been a traffic and business hub. Since it was carved off from Sichuan province in 1997 to became the country’s fourth centrally governed municipality, it has thrived; gross domestic product doubled in just seven years and by next year it is expected to have more than tripled from the 1997 figure, to 490 billion yuan (HK$557 billion). As the crime crackdown has shown, many of those who have grown rich were “black bosses with red hats” - gang bosses masquerading as legitimate businessmen.
The man with detailed knowledge of the workings of Chongqing gangs said two gang bosses, billionaire property developer Chen Mingliang and hotelier Ma Dang, had operated with impunity until two months ago.
In 2006, he said, Ma’s driver had a quarrel with some strangers on a plane. He was so outraged that, upon landing at Chonqging airport, he called Ma, who phoned Chen. When passengers walked into the arrival halls, more than 100 gang members brandishing knives and lengths of steel pipe set upon them. Many escaped with minor injuries by retreating back into the airport’s restricted area. Police were too stunned to intervene.
“Mr. Chen managed to settle and cover up the whole thing with money afterwards,” the man said. Chen paid 2 million yuan to cover passengers’ medical costs, Ma’s driver was sentenced to five years’ jail and that was the end of it. There were no media reports at all, thanks to a gagging order imposed by Wen, who was police chief at the time.
Some of the underworld figures sought to raise their public profiles as cover for their operations.
In a Central Television interview in April, businessman Chen Kunzhi said he was very glad to be asked on camera about his alleged connections with triad activities, since he had never had a chance to tell his side of the story. “My life is always being threatened, and many people keep telling me they are going to put me in jail,” he said.
Four months after his haughty claim of innocence, Chen, a former police officer disciplined for bribery and dismissed for physical assault, finds himself among the 67 gang bosses under arrest in Chongqing.
Witnesses said two companies owned by Chen Kunzhi ended up the sole bidders at an auction of a prime piece of land in the city three years ago after other property developers were prevented from taking part.
Nightclubs, illegal casinos and loan-sharking are the natural turf of Chongqing’s gang bosses. Since the crackdown began, night life has been noticeably quieter; many clubs have shut, including one at a five-star hotel. A night-shift taxi driver said he used to make 3,000 yuan a month but his income had dropped by 30 to 40 per cent.
Mr. Jiang, the reformed gangster, described how gangs operate.
“Many have stringent house rules. The families of gangsters who were injured would get regular compensation payments,” he said. The Chongqing Evening News has reported that the family of an employee who went to jail for Chen Mingliang in 2005 had since been paid up to 400,000 yuan.
Jiang said he and his “brothers” registered a debt-collection company several years ago. He explained that, with the rapid development of property in the city, the number of cases of developers refusing to pay subcontractors and migrant workers had multiplied. Many creditors turned to companies run by gangsters to chase their back pay. Debt-collecting firms got a kickback of 30 to 40 per cent of the debts collected.
There were several means of collecting money, Jiang said.
They could send scores of handicapped people to the developer’s front door day after day to tarnish his image and create a public scandal.
If the debtors were public figures, the companies sent people to follow them day and night. Others with no standing would simply be abducted to the countryside and buried alive. “Of course, we don’t want to kill them, just get the money they owe,” Jiang said. “We have lawyers providing us with legal advice before taking any action.”
Dong Cheng’s friends haven’t seen that kind of action, but the newspaper vendor says they have helped out in gang fights.
They were paid according to how well they knew the gangster who recruited them, he said. Some got 100 or 200 yuan a time, others just a packet of cigarettes or a meal after the clash.
“They are not even gang members. Some are jobless. Most are just there to help a friend,” he said.
Professor He Bing, of the Chinese University of Political Sciences and Law, said crime fighters could block or divert triad activity.
“We must allow the formation of regular societies, because the people have the need to form societies, and without these societies there will be problems,” he said. The mainland’s constitution guaranteed freedom of association, but in reality forming any non-governmental society was very difficult.
Taking the example of unlicensed taxis, Professor He said that if legitimate taxi operators were allowed to form an industry association, their rights and livelihood would be better protected from the illegal trade.
Nine months ago Chongqing saw the nation’s biggest taxi strike; one of the trade’s main complaints was the severe competition from unlicensed cabs - a business with triad links.
The man with detailed knowledge of Chongqing’s gangs said the crackdown had dealt them a blow but the “calm and tranquil appearance right now” was unlikely to last more than a few months.
“The numerous gangs in the city all have their long-established turf. When one gangster is eradicated, another rises. The arrests of ringleaders or the smashing of some gangs will only make way for the others,” he said. Already, there are rumours that the 1,000 taxis owned by Li Qiang, one of the detained billionaires, would be transferred to other companies with even stronger triad backgrounds after the crackdown.
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The men who make up gangs of Chongqing
Choi Chi-yuk in Chongqing and Ng Tze-wei
22 August 2009
They are former inmates, disillusioned police officers and jobless migrants struggling to survive in an ever growing metropolis. But they are also budding bureaucrats, successful businessmen and even the offspring of the local political elite.
As the dust starts to settle on a massive crackdown on organised crime in Chongqing, a picture is emerging of the kaleidoscopic cast of characters who spread their claws into almost every corner of life in the south-western municipality.
The crackdown has made national headlines not only because of its scale, but because of the profile of these arrested. More than 1,500 have been detained or formally arrested so far, including three billionaires, 50 government officials, six district police chiefs and the head of the municipality’s justice bureau, Wen Qiang. Several of the gang bosses were members of the local legislature.
One former gang leader, now reformed, said members of his gang were from all walks of life.
“Most of the foot soldiers were freed prisoners, former police officers or even the handicapped,” said the man, who called himself Jiang.
The top men are normally from big families. “You all know there are princelings in politics. But there are also princelings in the criminal gangs,” another man, who has detailed knowledge of the workings of Chongqing gangs, said.
This man said one such princeling, Wang Yunan, ran an underground casino until he was jailed nine years ago when one of his henchmen gunned down an undercover police officer. Wang was the son of a retired chief of police in the city. Another well-known gangster, Wang Ping, was the grandson of a prestigious Red Army member.
Chongqing, known for its dense fogs, furnace-like heat and fiery hotpot, was a centre of gang activities well before the founding of the People’s Republic. Some say the hot tempers and fierce loyalty of its residents made the city ideal for the growth of underworld societies.
Sitting at the intersection of the Yangtze River and two others, Chongqing has always been a traffic and business hub. Since it was carved off from Sichuan province in 1997 to became the country’s fourth centrally governed municipality, it has thrived; gross domestic product doubled in just seven years and by next year it is expected to have more than tripled from the 1997 figure, to 490 billion yuan (HK$557 billion). As the crime crackdown has shown, many of those who have grown rich were “black bosses with red hats” - gang bosses masquerading as legitimate businessmen.
The man with detailed knowledge of the workings of Chongqing gangs said two gang bosses, billionaire property developer Chen Mingliang and hotelier Ma Dang, had operated with impunity until two months ago.
In 2006, he said, Ma’s driver had a quarrel with some strangers on a plane. He was so outraged that, upon landing at Chonqging airport, he called Ma, who phoned Chen. When passengers walked into the arrival halls, more than 100 gang members brandishing knives and lengths of steel pipe set upon them. Many escaped with minor injuries by retreating back into the airport’s restricted area. Police were too stunned to intervene.
“Mr. Chen managed to settle and cover up the whole thing with money afterwards,” the man said. Chen paid 2 million yuan to cover passengers’ medical costs, Ma’s driver was sentenced to five years’ jail and that was the end of it. There were no media reports at all, thanks to a gagging order imposed by Wen, who was police chief at the time.
Some of the underworld figures sought to raise their public profiles as cover for their operations.
In a Central Television interview in April, businessman Chen Kunzhi said he was very glad to be asked on camera about his alleged connections with triad activities, since he had never had a chance to tell his side of the story. “My life is always being threatened, and many people keep telling me they are going to put me in jail,” he said.
Four months after his haughty claim of innocence, Chen, a former police officer disciplined for bribery and dismissed for physical assault, finds himself among the 67 gang bosses under arrest in Chongqing.
Witnesses said two companies owned by Chen Kunzhi ended up the sole bidders at an auction of a prime piece of land in the city three years ago after other property developers were prevented from taking part.
Nightclubs, illegal casinos and loan-sharking are the natural turf of Chongqing’s gang bosses. Since the crackdown began, night life has been noticeably quieter; many clubs have shut, including one at a five-star hotel. A night-shift taxi driver said he used to make 3,000 yuan a month but his income had dropped by 30 to 40 per cent.
Mr. Jiang, the reformed gangster, described how gangs operate.
“Many have stringent house rules. The families of gangsters who were injured would get regular compensation payments,” he said. The Chongqing Evening News has reported that the family of an employee who went to jail for Chen Mingliang in 2005 had since been paid up to 400,000 yuan.
Jiang said he and his “brothers” registered a debt-collection company several years ago. He explained that, with the rapid development of property in the city, the number of cases of developers refusing to pay subcontractors and migrant workers had multiplied. Many creditors turned to companies run by gangsters to chase their back pay. Debt-collecting firms got a kickback of 30 to 40 per cent of the debts collected.
There were several means of collecting money, Jiang said.
They could send scores of handicapped people to the developer’s front door day after day to tarnish his image and create a public scandal.
If the debtors were public figures, the companies sent people to follow them day and night. Others with no standing would simply be abducted to the countryside and buried alive. “Of course, we don’t want to kill them, just get the money they owe,” Jiang said. “We have lawyers providing us with legal advice before taking any action.”
Dong Cheng’s friends haven’t seen that kind of action, but the newspaper vendor says they have helped out in gang fights.
They were paid according to how well they knew the gangster who recruited them, he said. Some got 100 or 200 yuan a time, others just a packet of cigarettes or a meal after the clash.
“They are not even gang members. Some are jobless. Most are just there to help a friend,” he said.
Professor He Bing, of the Chinese University of Political Sciences and Law, said crime fighters could block or divert triad activity.
“We must allow the formation of regular societies, because the people have the need to form societies, and without these societies there will be problems,” he said. The mainland’s constitution guaranteed freedom of association, but in reality forming any non-governmental society was very difficult.
Taking the example of unlicensed taxis, Professor He said that if legitimate taxi operators were allowed to form an industry association, their rights and livelihood would be better protected from the illegal trade.
Nine months ago Chongqing saw the nation’s biggest taxi strike; one of the trade’s main complaints was the severe competition from unlicensed cabs - a business with triad links.
The man with detailed knowledge of Chongqing’s gangs said the crackdown had dealt them a blow but the “calm and tranquil appearance right now” was unlikely to last more than a few months.
“The numerous gangs in the city all have their long-established turf. When one gangster is eradicated, another rises. The arrests of ringleaders or the smashing of some gangs will only make way for the others,” he said. Already, there are rumours that the 1,000 taxis owned by Li Qiang, one of the detained billionaires, would be transferred to other companies with even stronger triad backgrounds after the crackdown.
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