Police of Chongqing City, central China, recently did a sweep of gangs and their leaders, in the process discovering that many of them are currently entrepreneurs, representatives of the National People’s Congress, and members of the People’s Political Consultative Conference, two ostensible legislative bodies in China.
According to the report in Chongqing evening news, the Chongqing City Government has broken up 14 “vicious gangs” and detained 19 “principal gangsters” over the last two months.
Police disclosed the positions and backgrounds of the ringleaders in a press release in late August.
Chen Mingliang, the president of Jiangzhou Industry Limited Company in Chongqing, for example, was said to have invested 140 million yuan (US$20.5 million) to build a 300-hundred square meter shopping mall, called “Chongqing Taigu Sanxia Antique City,” bringing an annual income of 500 million yuan (US$73.2 million). In 2006, Chen was elected president of the Chongqing City Antique Commercial Association and declared the largest antique businessman in the city. He was also elected Chongqing Central District Representative of the People’s Congress. He was caught and charged with organizing and leading gang crimes, gambling crimes, and organizing prostitution rings.
Li Qiang had the most titles among the 67 detained. In addition to being president of the Yuqing Company, he holds several official and semi-official positions, including 3rd Chongqing City Representative of the People’s Congress, 12th Chongqing Banan District Standing Member of People’s Political Consultative Conference, President of Chongqing City Economic and Trade Commission, Standing Director of Rental and Lease Association of the China Road Transportation Association, Vice President of Chongqing City Road Transportation Commercial Association, and perhaps others.
Police charge that Li owns more than 20 enterprises, ranging from road transport and real estate development to car repairs. He is alleged to have used all means, including violence and gangs, to control routes of passenger transport.
Read the original Chinese article.
