Two top law enforcers yesterday criticised the alarming trend of local officials acting as a 'protective umbrella' for triad gangsters.
China's chief prosecutor, Han Zhubin, said in his report to the National People's Congress yesterday that 345 officials were prosecuted last year for sheltering gangsters and accepting bribes to turn a blind eye to organised crime. The officials also tipped off suspects about investigations and tolerated smuggling and illegal businesses in return for pay-offs.
'Some of the officials are themselves key members in triad societies,' said Mr Han, of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, adding that such collaboration between officials and illegal elements was a serious danger to social stability.
Cases of organised crime and violent crime involving guns, explosives and other weapons soared last year as courts handled 729,958 criminal cases, the president of the Supreme People's Court, Xiao Yang, told the NPC.
The courts heard 350 cases of mafia-style organised crime, six times the figure in 2000, Mr Xiao said. Sentences for crimes involving shootings and explosions jumped 81.6 per cent to 12,005, he said.
Mr Han and Mr Xiao vowed to strike hard against such crimes in the coming year. Extra efforts would also be taken to deal severely with subversion and people who were a threat to national unity, including terrorists and banned groups such as Falun Gong.
Liaoning delegate Feng Yuzhong said official graft and gangsters hooking up with local officials demonstrated that political reform was desperately needed.
