The rise of the Red Mafia in China: a case study of organised crime and corruption in Chongqing

‘Red Mafia’ is the collective term for corrupt public officials in mainland China, mainly from the criminal justice system, who attempt to monopolise the protection business in the criminal underworld by abusing power. In contemporary mainland China, the Red Mafia has developed into an alternative system of governance that can control organised crime groups, enable them to flourish, and protect them where strong government and effective self-protection associations are absent. The author examines organised crime and corruption by analysing the Wen Qiang case, one of the most famous and widely publicised cases in Chongqing’s latest crime crackdown campaign. Drawing on interview data and extensive published materials, this paper offers a tentative definition of ‘Red Mafia’, develops a typology of organised crime, describes the emergence of the Red Mafia in China, explores how gangsters developed relationships with public officials, suggests why organised crime groups chose the Red Mafia as their preferred protection and enforcement mechanism, examines patterns of services provided, and explores the differences between the Red Mafia and other Mafia groups.     

Correlates of crime in Taiwan

Taiwan is known for rapid economic growth, but in 1988, the government ended 40 years of martial law, resulting in greater political and social freedoms. This paper explores the influence of economic, social, and political structures on crime in the Republic of China on Taiwan. A time series analysis examines the structural correlates of crime in Taiwan from 1964 to 1990. Both total crime and burglary/larceny rates are regressed on seven independent variables derived from various theoretical perspectives. The results support Hagan's power-control and Christie's crime-industry perspectives for total crime, while measures assessing lack of economic means and the economic deprivation were significant for burglary/larceny.     

浅谈职务犯罪

职务犯罪主要表现是贪污贿赂、挪用公款等经济犯罪和渎职侵权犯罪，是腐败现象最突出的表现。中国的现代化建设和改革开放事业取得了巨大成就，然而腐败现象的黑影也在不断扩展，当前职务犯罪呈蔓延之势，给整个社会带来极大危害。本文分析了职务犯罪的内涵、特徵、危害及其成因，并从思想上、立法上、完善监督机制和加大打击力度等方面深入探讨预防对策，从源头上预防和治理职务犯罪。     

Organized crime in Ukraine: Challenge and response

Organized crime in Ukraine has helped to derail the transition to a democratic polity and a free market economy, has generated considerable violence and corruption, and has contributed significantly to the development of a climate that does little to encourage foreign direct investment. Consequently this article explains why Ukraine, along with other states of the Former Soviet Union, developed a major organized crime problem during the 1990s. Having done this, it delineates some of the major contours of organized crime in Ukraine, identifying the major participants in organized crime, the variations in the phenomenon in different cities and regions, and the major activities of organized crime. The article also examines the kinds of initiatives that have been taken by the government of Ukraine in its efforts to combat organized crime, before suggesting some areas in which these efforts could be significantly improved.     

Organized economic crime and corruption in Urkraine: The problem of countermeasures

The collapse of communism in Ukraine created opportunities for organized criminal groups to expand their economic criminal activities in the “shadow economy” by penetrating all levels of public and economic administration. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are poorly equipped to handle this increase in criminal activity, especially with respect to uncooperative foreign and domestic economic institutions. State machinery for regulation and control of industry and commerce was easily accessible to organized crime through bribing of state officials, who received no supervision during economic restructuring. Notwithstanding the active assistance of corrupt government officials, organized economic crime has benefited from chaos and lost government control as the result of recent economic reforms in Ukraine. Researchers in this study hypothesize that the social and economic disorder, as well as a common and justified mistrust of state officials, fosters a pessimism and erodes moral standards, which in turn fosters criminal activity. Of late, judicial sentencing for those convicted of economic crimes has become lighter while many economic criminal cases are never investigated or prosecuted in the first place. In order to combat large-scale corruption, there must be better supervision of government officials and better monitoring of foreign economic transactions. One of the most disastrous consequences of the collapse of the Ukrainian communist system has been the widespread increase of economic crime. This phenomenon is self-sustaining, penetrating all levels of Ukraine's economy and administrative sectors. Criminal activity helps to sustain the shadow economy in Ukraine, which has been estimated by various sources to constitute 50 to 60 percent of the economy. Law enforcement and administrative efforts have been largely futile in curbing this corruption. Nevertheless, it is possible to overcome the criminal social and economic order that has become ingrained in this “shadow economy.” This paper seeks to propose policy solutions for Ukrainian economic crime and corruption that could be implemented at the national level.     

Minimising corruption: Applying lessons from the crime prevention literature

This article explores how the criminology literature, particularly the literature on crime prevention, might supplement current efforts to minimise corruption. It seeks to identify and apply approaches to offenders and offending to the problem of minimising corruption. In summary, this article demonstrates that the crime prevention literature does have a number of applications for those interested in minimising corruption. In general terms, this literature advocates, amongst other things, taking an informed approach to corruption minimisation by developing an understanding of the process of engaging in corrupt conduct. Exploring the offender's perspective and considering different types of corruption separately are two strategies suggested to facilitate understanding the factors which underlie corrupt conduct. In this way those seeking to minimise corruption would be better placed to identify how and where to intervene to optimise the likelihood of prevention and hence be able to tailor prevention techniques to individual types of corruption. Six specific lessons from the crime prevention literature and their applications are illustrated in this article. This current article is intended to promote discussion of potential strategies for combating corruption by the growing numbers of people interested in this challenge. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

中国近代法学留学生与新中国初期的法治建设

本文主要从四个方面论述了中国近代法学留学生与新中国法制建设的关系。第一 ,许多近代法学留学生没有跟随国民党政权前去台湾而留在大陆的原因。第二 ,近代法学留学生对新中国的立法、司法和法学教育所作的贡献。第三 ,1957年反右斗争中近代法学留学生对自身生存方式的呻吟。第四 ,1957年反右斗争中近代法学留学生对新中国法制建设中一些错误做法的批评。     

Organized crime and the political-criminal nexus in China

The research goals of this study, undertaken on behalf of the National Strategy Information Center (NSIC), were to describe the evolution of the political-criminal nexus (PCN) in China and predict its development, examine the causes and patterns of PCN in China, assess the anticipated threats of Chinese PCN, and identify options for external factors—inside and outside government—to weaken PCN in China. The researchers used a variety of techniques as part of an overall exploratory methodology, including interviews and field observations in three Chinese provinces. Key informants included law enforcement officers, government officials, scholars, prosecutors, judges, businessmen, and underworld figures. Interviews and site visits were supplemented with the review of a large collection of English and Chinese literature on the subject. The major findings are (1) in China, PCN is primarily a nexus between gangsters and low- and mid-level government officials from the criminal justice system; (2) the Chinese government is concerned with the problem of PCN mainly because it is eroding the authority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and not because of the threat of organized gangs to social and economic stability; (3) organized crime in China is going to be a local problem for many towns and cities in the foreseeable future; (4) reasons for the development of PCN in China could be categorized as economic, structural, social/cultural, and psychological/ideological and the impact of PCN could be categorized as social, economic, and political; and (5) several options exist for external governmental and nongovernmental measures to curb or at least control PCN in China, including research, education, and judicial reform.     

From tong war to organized crime: Revising the historical perception of violence in Chinatown

An analysis of New York City press accounts and official documents from 1894 to 1908 challenges many assumptions about Chinese organized crime in the United States. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this analysis provides strong evidence that Chinese organized crime is neither “emerging” nor “nontraditional” and that it predates, in structure and sophistication, organizations of other ethnic origins later recognized as “modern” organized crime by academics, the media, and the government. A qualitative, document-based case study of the first “tong war” between the Hip Sing Tong and the On Leong Tong (1899–1907) shows that both organizations were heavily involved in a multiethnic social system of organized crime that extended across the United States and to China itself. The turn-of-the-century tongs were involved with police and political corruption, labor racketeering, price fixing, prostitution, gambling, immigrant smuggling, slavery, drug trafficking, and violent crimes. They are still associated with these activities.     

Both too much and too little: From elite to street crime in the transformation of the Czech Republic

A social capital theory of crime proposes that both excessively high and low levels of trust lead to crime. Low levels of trust are associated with predatory forms of street crime, while high levels of trust can lead to white collar crime and political corruption. This paper explores the role of social capital and trust in the causation of under and upperworld forms of crime in the rapidly changing circumstances of the Czech Republic. Connections between social capital and crime are the product not only of the transition to a market economy, but also of the problems of the pre-transition Czech society. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

我国台湾问题的法理探析

近年来,台独分子的“法理台独”愈演愈烈。前不久陈水扁的“废统”闹剧又引起两岸形势紧张。台湾问题有国内和国际两大因素,台湾问题的解决也要从国内和国际两个层面出发。无论是从国际法还是国内法层面分析,法律手段都是解决台湾问题以和平统一祖国的重要途径和有效手段。     

Causal factors of corporate crime in Taiwan: qualitative and quantitative findings

Street crimes are a primary concern of most criminologists in Taiwan. In recent years, however, crimes committed by corporations have increased greatly in this country. Employing the empirical approach to collect data about causal factors of corporate crime, the research presented in this article is the first systematic empirical study concerning corporate crime in Taiwan. The research sample was selected from a corporation with a criminal record of pollution caused by the release of toxic chemicals into the environment and a corporation with no criminal record. Questionnaire survey and interviews of corporate employees and managers were conducted, and secondary data were collected from official agencies. This research indicated the causal factors of corporate crime as follows: the failure of government regulation, lack of corporate self-regulation, lack of public concern about corporate crime, corporate mechanistic structure, and the low self-control tendency of corporate managers.     

Mafia markers: assessing organized crime and its impact upon societies

This study develops a causal model of the independent effect of organized crime, rule of law, and corruption on national wealth. To measure the level of organized crime a Composite Organized Crime Index (COCI) is constructed combining data on the perceived prevalence of organized crime, unsolved homicides, grand corruption, money-laundering and the extent of the black economy, drawing on the World Economic Forum’s annual surveys among CEOs of larger companies, the Merchant International Group’s assessments of investment risks in 150 countries, studies by the World Bank Institute, and official crime statistics. The findings of the explorative analysis show that a political strategy of tolerating activities of local criminal groups in the hope of beneficial effects on the wealth of a nation is unlikely to bring the expected results. Although some types of organized crime may bring in significant revenues, tolerating Mafia-type activities implies letting the Trojan horse of racketeering and grand corruption into the walls of government.

Corruption and organized crime: Lessons from history

The intention of this paper is to serve in part as a warning to the international community concerned about corruption, to keep the focus based on the critical analysis of empirically verifiable information. In ways similar to how theorists spoke about organized crime in the 1960's and 1970's, articles today attempt to refer to corruption as if there were one agreed upon definition. However, like the concept “organized crime”, the term “corruption” involves diverse processes which have different meanings within different societies. Corruption (or a focus on corruption), may be the means toward very diverse ends and each may have a different impact on the society. While in some societies corruption may correctly be seen to be the “cause” of forms of social disorganization, in other situations corruption may be the “result” of larger changes. Understanding the processes within a specific context allows one to understand the nature of the corruption. Corruption rhetoric may too easily become apolitical platform for ranking and evaluating nations as to their worth based on criteria that lose meaning when applied across jurisdictions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

祖国大陆与我国台湾地区的毒品犯罪立法比较

科学而严密的刑法规范是有效打击毒品犯罪的重要手段。通过比较分析,借鉴我国台湾地区的经验之所长,是进一步完善祖国大陆地区法律规范的重要途径。我国台湾地区在防制毒品犯罪方面有着比祖国大陆地区更长的历史,其立法经验也显得更为成熟。我国台湾地区将毒品依其成瘾性、滥用性及对社会危害性的不同予以分级,对不同级别的毒品所涉及的犯罪行为分别设置轻重不同的刑罚,将制造、贩卖、运输、持有专供制造或施用毒品器具的行为、转让毒品行为、服毒驾驶行为等予以犯罪化,其刑罚规范具有明确化特点。这些立法经验,都是值得祖国大陆借鉴的。     

浅谈职务犯罪的预防

职务犯罪是腐败的集中体现,也是当前较为突出的现象。在加强教育,廉洁自律,使职务犯罪"不想为";健全制度,完善监督,使职务犯罪"不能为"的同时,还要加大打击力度,强化警示作用,坚决惩治腐败,使职务犯罪"不敢为"。只有坚持预防与打击相结合,治标与治本并举,才能从根本上防止腐败现象的发生,有效地减少和遏制职务犯罪。建立高度透明的民主政治制度,是杜绝腐败现象,遏制职务犯罪的根本途径。     

Drive-away policing and situational crime prevention in China: an analysis of motorcycle ban (jinmo) policy in Guangzhou

Using the example of motorcycle ban policy in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, this article examines how situational crime prevention strategies are used in contemporary urban China. The article argues that although a motorcycle ban policy may reduce motorcycle snatch theft (feiche qiangduo) in Guangzhou, it inevitably caused a problem of displacement. However, some types of displacement are desirable for local government. An argument about drive-away policing is proposed in this article to understand policing styles in contemporary China. In addition, the article argues that motorcycle ban, as a strategy to prevent snatch theft and robbery, is also a strategy to deal with the crisis in police legitimacy. Therefore, crime prevention in China has more social and political significance than just reducing crime.     

Is occupational fraud “typical” white-collar crime? A comparison of individual and organizational characteristics

Controversy over the appropriate unit of analysis plagued the white-collar crime literature. This state of affairs was a product, at least in part, of the continued development of two distinct research traditions. Researchers interested in “occupational crime” focused on individuals, whereas “corporate crime” researchers studied organizations. As a result, assumptions persisted about the “typical” offender and organizational setting for white-collar crime. Using a sample of 1,142 occupational fraud cases, the present study addressed voids in the literature by comparing differences in individual offender characteristics (i.e., age, gender, education, and position in the organization) and organizational victim characteristics (i.e., size, type, existing control mechanisms, and revenue) for three types of occupational fraud: asset misappropriation, corruption, and fraudulent statements. The analysis revealed that individuals who committed fraudulent statements conformed to the literature's “high status” image, while those involved in asset misappropriation or corruption more closely resembled D. Weisburd, S. Wheeler, E. Waring, and N. Bode's (1991) “middle-class” offenders. Moreover, organizations victimized by corruption were similar to the literature's depiction of the large, profit-making company setting for white-collar crime, while the other two types of occupational fraud occurred in distinctly different settings. Implications for future research and fraud prevention are provided.     

Conceptualising and combating transnational environmental crime

To date, transnational environmental crime has been poorly attended to by the transnational organised crime and transnational policing discourse. Academics have focused on individual elements of environmental crime, neglecting a broader theoretical discussion, while national and international institutions have prioritised other forms of organised crime, giving little thought to the nuanced nature of transnational environmental crime and how this should be reflected in policing and countermeasures. This paper attempts to rectify this by conceptualising transnational environmental crime and suggesting ways forward for countermeasure development. The paper will begin by looking at the problem of environmental crime, its value, scope and effects, concluding that the damaging nature of transnational environmental crime demands a greater focus on its policing. The nature of transnational environmental crime will then be discussed by reference to traditional forms of organised crime. It will be argued that, while transnational environmental crime is a form of organised crime, and has some features in common with the traditional organised crimes, such as drug smuggling and people trafficking, it is the substantial differences that should guide the approach to developing countermeasures. The development of effective countermeasures, it is concluded, requires a significant change in policy at every level.     

Asian transnational organized crime and its impact on the United States: Developing a transnational crime research agenda

Undertaken on behalf of the National Institute of Justice between July 2003 and August 2004, the research goals of this study were to (a) determine high priority areas for research on Asian transnational organized crime (TOC); (b) assess the impact of Asian TOC on the United States; (3) identify relevant data and information sources in Asia; and (4) identify potential collaborative research partners and institutions in Asia. The aim was thus not to examine in detail the organized crime situation in this region, but rather to lay the foundation for a research agenda and strategy that would accomplish that purpose. In seeking to achieve this aim, the researchers used a variety of techniques as part of an overall exploratory methodology. They included four months of interviews (andfield observations) with experts in eight Asian sites, including law enforcement officials, policymakers, and scholars, as well as American officials in each site. Meetings were also held with Asian crime experts in the United States. Interviews and site visits were supplemented with surveys and analyses done by local Asian researchers, an analysis of U.S. indictments, and the review of a large volume of literature. The sites covered by this research are China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia. The major findings are first, that there is little consensus among the Asian authorities on just wliat their main organized crime problems are. Whereas the Asian authorities give higher priority to traditional organized crimes, e.g., gambling, extortion, prostitution, etc., the American authorities focus more on transnational crimes. Consistent with this view, Asian authorities do not see much linkage between the local or regional crime groups about which they are most concerned, and transnational organized crime. Next, contrary to the views and expectations of some American authorities, the commonly expressed view among the respondents in this study is that there is no collaboration or linkage between transnational organized crime groups and terrorists. Finally, the transnational organized crime networks operating in the region are said to be highly specialized, with any overlapping of criminal activities occurring mostly at the level of transportation of goods or people. It is recommended that future collaborative research efforts focus on trafficking in women and children, human smuggling, and drug production and trafficking. These are likely to continue to have the most impact upon the United States and upon U.S. interests in the region. It is further recommended that these research efforts be both bi-lateral (principally with China) and multi-lateral in nature. A wide variety of potentially willing research partners are identified and their strengths and weaknesses are assessed. Finally, a specific strategy for accomplishing the research agenda is proposed. Support for this research was provided by TDL# 1700-215 from the National Institute of Justice. The opinions are those of the authors and do not reflect the policies or views of the National Institute of Justice.