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

Crime in China

Xinlu Liangin Beijing

Published: 6:00pm, 24 Jun 2022

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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.

Chinese police on anti-gang blitz after attack on women in Tangshan

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.

Assaulted for ‘no’: Tangshan attack reopens debate on gender-based violence

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.

Nine people have been arrested for the vicious assault, which started after a woman rejected one of the attackers. Security camera footage showed a group of people rushing into the restaurant to attack her and three other women before dragging them outside to continue beating and punching them. Two of the victims had to be hospitalised.

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9 arrested over fierce attack on women in Tangshan

The violence of the attack sparked widespread outrage and raised suspicions that the attackers were gangsters protected by corrupt police officers. On Tuesday, a deputy police chief was sacked and five others were placed under investigation over the incident.

Authorities said they aim to target criminal activities ranging from assault and battery of women to extortion, gambling, prostitution and scams in the two-week campaign led by a special group within the city government. They also urged citizens to report problems and promised that every tip would be investigated.