Dongguan sex worker reports stoke debate about legalising prostitution

Two days after Chinese national television brought the sex industry in Dongguan into the national spotlight, public opinion has been divided in a debate about the legalisation of the industry.

Wu Jiaxiang, a former official who was jailed for three years for his role in supporting Tiananmen Square students, was one of several prominent intellectuals expressing concerns over the crackdown against prostitution in Guangdong province. “I have long advocated the legalisation of the sex trade, now is the time,” he wrote in a microblog post.

Video: CCTV news report on sex trade in Dongguan

Wu echoed a widely shared sentiment that was boosted by the raids on brothels in hotels in the Guangdong city, an hour’s drive north of Hong Kong, over the weekend and the beginning of a three-month long crackdown on sex trade in China’s most populous province.

Shortly after China Central Television’s news broadcast aired a report on the sex industry in Dongguan on Saturday, the city mobilised more than 6,000 policemen to raid almost 2,000 entertainment venues.

Photos of sex workers kneeling and hiding their faces from cameras circulated widely and made Dongguan the most discussed topic on microblogs for days.