THE political future of Guangdong police chief Chen Shaoji will largely depend on how successfully he tackles the growing problem of organised crime, especially prostitution.
Sources in Guangdong say the 48-year-old police boss faces great political pressure to turn the so-called ''yellow tide'' around.
They say the provincial leadership has become ''increasingly anxious'', with crime rates as high as 20 per cent.
A protege of Guangdong Communist Party boss Xie Fei, Mr Chen was elevated to the provincial senior echelon last May when he was made a member of the provincial Communist Party Standing Committee.
He was commended for his efforts in cracking down on rampant smuggling between Guangdong and Hongkong in the past year and was hand-picked by Mr Xie to take over from law and order guru Fan Bao, who stepped down in the latest government reshuffle.
Last week, Mr Chen convened a tele-conference urging provincial cadres to ''hit hard'' on criminals.
On Wednesday, the official Nanfang Daily reported that 12 criminals were executed in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Huizhou earlier this month for operating five major syndicates controlling about 100 prostitutes.