‘Tong’ Gives $70,000 to John Liu’s Comptroller Campaign

John Liu (m), with Peng Keyu, New York Chinese consul-general on the far right.

NEW YORK—The Fukien American Association, identified by experts on gangs as a “tong” with connections to human trafficking and other organized crime, has given at least $70,000 to John Liu’s campaign for New York City comptroller, according to the World Journal. Liu has urged the members of the Fukien Association to help work for his election.

The term “tong” is explained in the report “Chinese Transnational Organized Crime: The Fuk Ching” by James O. Finckenauer, Ph.D at the National Institute for Justice, which is a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice: “One of the structural characteristics that makes Chinese organized crime different from other forms is the relationship between some of the street gangs and certain adult organizations. The latter are called tongs.”

According to Finckenauer, “Any political influence Chinese gangs have is exerted through the tongs with which they are affiliated.”

The Fukien American Association, which donated money to Liu’s campaign, is also affiliated with the Fuk Ching gang, according to Finckenauer. The Fuk Ching gang is known for its involvement in human trafficking, as well as extortion and protection rackets, also according to Finckenauer.

The report by Finckenauer, which explains the connections between the Fukien American Association and organized crime, continues that the Fukien American Association also provides the Fuk Ching with a physical place to hang out; helps “legitimize” them in the community by allowing the gang to operate in their territory; and “provide criminal opportunities (such as protecting gambling operations), as well as supplying money and guns.”

The Fukien Association’s president back in the late 90s was referred to as the “commander-in-chief of illegal smuggling,” according to Ko-lin Chin, a leading expert on Chinese gangs, in his book “Chinatown Gangs.”

“The Chinese organized crime group has been very clever to create different facades to prevent probes from the police,” said Brian McAdam, a retired Canadian diplomat who used to specialize in exposing human smuggling, espionage, and corruption, in a phone interview.

“The majority of women who come [through human smuggling organized by the tongs], women and children, basically end up as sex slaves, and the men end up working in restaurants and doing menial labor and carrying out crime,” according to McAdam.

According to a 2008 report from the National Gang Crime Research Center, “Females and Gangs: Sexual Violence, Prostitution, and Exploitation,” the Fukien American Association and the Fuk Ching are also involved in organized prostitution, which is typically run out of massage parlors.

“A lot of these people are murdered on the way, thrown off the ship, or are murdered in the U.S. if they do not pay off their debts,” McAdam said.

John Liu visited the office of the Fujian association on Aug. 16, 2009, urging members that “the final month before the election is the most critical,” and “absolutely don’t let down your guard, you must register to vote before the 21st. Then on Sept. 15, cast your sacred ballot,” according to a World Journal report. In a photograph, Liu is pictured with association members around a table, food on offer, everyone clutching John Liu posters.

On June 3, 2009, the Fukien American Association held a ceremony at Manhattan Chinatown’s Jin Fong restaurant to celebrate its anniversary. In photos of the event posted on the Fukien American Association Web site, John Liu sat next to the association’s chairman, with the Chinese Consul General Peng Keyu on the other side of the chairman. The same photos show Liu speaking at a podium with a large Chinese flag behind him. The Web page in the Fukien American Association’s Web site was removed the day after The Epoch Times cited it in a Sept. 3 article.