Toward Olympics 2008: China's development in the reform period

Owen Bennett-Jones presents ‘Newshour’ and ‘The Interview’ for BBC World Service Radio. He has reported from all over the world and was the BBC Correspondent in Islamabad between 1998 and 2001. He is currently preparing a second edition of his book Pakistan: Eye of the Storm.     

Chinese Organised Crime

Secret societies have always been endemic to Chinese overseas communities, surviving on fear and corruption and prospering through their involvement in a wide range of legal and illegal businesses. For many years, Hong Kong was seen as the 'capital' of this worldwide Chinese criminal fraternity and, in the 1980s, many outside observers and analysts thought the gangs that were based in the then British colony would leave once it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. In the end, the reverse turned out to be the case. Not only did the Hong Kong Triads make arrangements with the territory's new overlords, but in Chinatowns all over the world, close links were also forged with mainland Chinese interests. In China itself, where cutthroat capitalism has replaced the old, austere socialist system, new secret societies, both Triad-linked criminal groups and various syncretic sects, are also expanding at a breathtaking pace. An entirely new breed of entrepreneurs is emerging on the fringes of China. The businesslike and well-connected, pinstriped suit-wearing managers of the Sun Yee On Triad have shown where the future lies, while gangsters are breaking new ground in such new frontiers as the Russian Far East, which could have far-reaching consequences for the stability of the entire region.