As illicit special interest groups begin to accumulate wealth, many often choose to attempt to infiltrate government agencies, where they seek political power and protection. At the Chongqing trials, it has become clear that a number of organized criminal gang leaders are also senior members of the local people’s congress and political consultative conference.
The Black Housing Industry
Current investigations have revealed that the golden age for the Chongqing underworld was the period beginning immediately after 2004. With booming real estate prices and rocketing costs of natural resources, the real estate industry became a hotbed of corruption and conflict.
To tackle the problem of the widening income gap between China’s western and eastern regions, the central government installed a taxation system that diverted tax revenue from the prosperous provinces to less developed areas. With tax revenue decreases, many local governments choose to seek revenue resources independent of the central government. The real estate industry, with its network of criminal associates, was only too happy to step in.
According to research carried out in nine cities by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, among the total sales of local real estate, 49.42 percent eventually found its way into the purse of local government. As construction continued apace, violent conflicts with local residents become frequent. In many cases when local residents resisted the development plan, local enforcers or “hard-men” were hired to help to evict them, sometimes in conjunction with local police units.
Among the fallen millionaires in the Chongqing crackdown are several real estate gurus, all of whom are alleged to have been involved in violent crime. A source inside the real estate industry told NewsChina that many other real estate gurus have either fled to Hong Kong or embarked on months-long “business trips” overseas. “Nobody is clean in this industry,” he said.
During the Chongqing trials, a large crowd had gathered outside the court, many of whom were there to voice their grievances, hoping the crackdown would also bring justice to their cases. Among their complaints were cases involving murder, rape, financial disputes, and most of all, land disputes. Many of them were from other provinces such as Hubei and Hunan. “We hope the anti-gang campaign can spread to our hometown,” said a farmer from Hubei who had lost his land to a real estate developer.
One such person, who claimed that she represented over 1,000 families, told NewsChina that local authorities have violently driven them off of their property and demolished their houses. According to her, local police officers are paid 100 to 200 yuan per day to participate. She also specifically named a number of local officials who led the raid, as well as a list of plate numbers of police cars involved.
