Chongqing mafia

[bhchao]

How extensive is the mafia in Chonqqing? Do they control the police department in the city? I heard that Chongqing today resembles Shanghai during the 1920s when mafia gangsters colluded tightly with city authorities.

Also how effective has Bo Xilai been in eliminating organized crime in Chongqing?

I read that recently the Chongqing modern-day equivalent of Du Yuesheng was executed. I wonder whether Bo Xilai would be able to rise to the top leadership based on his record in Chongqing.

[gato]

Many people wonder how real this fight against the mafia is. Could it be instead indirect swipe at Wang Yang, who was Chongqing's party secretary immediately before Bo Xilai and is currently the party secretary of Guangdong? Wang Yang is supposedly a protege of Chairman Hu.

[bhchao]

Is Wang in direct competition with Bo for a spot in the Standing Committee? That might be a reason if Bo's attacking organized crime was politically motivated.

One has to question that if Bo is doing it in Chongqing, why are similar campaigns nonexistent in other cities.

[Prodigal Son]

The mafia is extremely extensive in Chongqing. If you ask Chongqing people about this they'll ask you if you're serious (everyone knows that it's completely corrupt).

[bhchao]

Sounds like a city I want to live in. Gangsters, oven furnace temperatures, spicy Sichuan cuisine, and the most beautiful women in China.

[bhchao]

I think strengthening the rule of law and an independent court system would be a more effective long term solution in combatting organized crime, instead of these "strike hard" campaigns used for publicity purposes. These strike hard campaigns could easily incriminate people with no association with organized crime, and deprive them of their legal rights.

[roddy]

On-topic, thanks. You're welcome to swop pictures of pretty girls by private message.

[crazy-meiguoren]

I agree with bhchao's statement that rule of law and independent courts could do a better job than a massive crackdown. Crackdowns are ok as a starting point, a short-term solution to bring the problem to a halt. Long-term, though, an orderly rule of law needs to be instituted. Any crackdown should be within clearly defined legal boundaries to ensure that it is done to protect the innocent from false accusations.

However, rule of law cannot work without the support of the people. Using torture to extract confessions from the accused is just one sign that the new boss won't be much better than the old boss. The crackdown will bring only temporary relief. It makes room for the next round of gangsters by getting the old ones are out of the way.

Ah, "Chicago on the Yangtze". Maybe there'll be a Chinese version of "The Untouchables" in the future?