Chinese security official calls for crackdown on gangs following Tangshan attack

Political and legal affairs chief urges authorities to tackle street crimes, scams, prostitution, gambling and other criminal activity

The comments come two weeks after a brutal group assault on women at a restaurant in northern China

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Surveillance video shows a group attack on women in the northern Chinese city of Tangshan on June 10. The assault sparked widespread outrage and spurred the city to launch a “lightning blitz” campaign against gangs. Photo: Weibo

Published: 6:00pm, 24 Jun 2022

Authorities should crack down on gang activity to prevent crimes from slipping through the net, senior security official Chen Yixin said two weeks after a brutal group attack in the city of Tangshan sparked nationwide outcry.

Chen, secretary general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, China’s top law enforcement body, said authorities should tackle crimes as soon as they emerge, with special attention on street crimes, group attacks, and other criminal activity including child abduction, pension fraud, prostitution, gambling, drug abuse, theft, robbery and scams.

Chen made the remarks during a trip to the southern Chinese province of Hainan from Sunday to Tuesday, according to an official legal news site. During the trip, the political and legal affairs chief discussed crime-fighting measures with local authorities.

Chen said China’s three-year campaign against organised crime, launched in 2018, was an “overwhelming victory”, but there remains a need to “fight against evil on a normal basis”.

The battle against crime is a “long-term, complex and arduous” process, and security forces must nip it in the bud at an early stage, he said.

Chen said authorities nationwide should guarantee smooth reporting channels for citizens, follow up on useful tips to investigate cases, chase down criminals, take fugitives into custody, and root out corruption and abuse of power in the system.

The senior security official’s comments came as authorities in the northern city of Tangshan in Hebei launched a “lightning blitz” campaign against criminal gangs two days after a brutal attack in a barbecue restaurant earlier this month.

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