Chinese police go nationwide in vice crackdown

After a major crackdown on vice in the southern “sin city” of Dongguan, Chinese police have been ordered to go nationwide in a campaign against prostitution, gambling and narcotics.

According to the ministry of public security’s official website, the vice dragnet has already begun in several provinces, and over the past week police have caught 501 suspects, broken up 73 vice rings, and shut 2,410 brothels and gambling dens.

The current crackdown reached national attention after the main state broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV) aired a half-hour report about widespread prostitution in Dongguan, a city in the industrial belt of southern China, just across the border from Hong Kong. The city is home to thousands of brothels, saunas and massage parlours and is believed to have more than half a million sex workers.

Shortly after the broadcast, 6,000 police officers raided close to 2,000 saunas, karaoke rooms and massage parlours, and almost 1,000 people were detained.

Prostitution was outlawed after the Communist revolution in 1949, but it has made a comeback with the economy opening up. By some estimates there are four to five million prostitutes in China. Gambling too has been outlawed.

Law enforcement is often lax and many brothels are said to operate with the police turning a blind eye. “The ministry attaches great importance to the issue and will resolutely investigate, severely punish and firmly attack the organisers, operators and ‘protective umbrellas’ behind prostitution crimes,” said Wen Guohui, a ministry press officer.

After the Dongguan raids, police chief Yan Xiaokang, who was also vice-mayor, was sacked for dereliction of duty. Another seven Dongguan officials were fired.

Since the Guangdong crackdown, police all over the country in provinces such as Jiangsu, Heilongjiang, Hunan and Shandong have begun campaigns against prostitution, raiding karaoke clubs and bathhouses all over the country.