Editorials

Crime scourge

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-22 07:51

Chongqing officials have received just praise for efforts to choke the nexus between organized crime and law enforcement officers.

The Minister of Public Security recently issued an order commending city officials for their high-profile crackdown on underworld gangs.

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The crusade against organized crime won praise both from locals as well as envious citizens in other cities after the crackdown exposed the protective umbrella that top local officials had extended to crime syndicates, following which there was an extensive reshuffle of staff in the local law-enforcement wing.

The latest award is only belated appreciation for what was long overdue, and clearly falls short of what is expected.

What the public needs is an order directing local authorities in other cities to resort to a similar cleanup. In all honesty, this is no guarantee that organized crime is non-existent in other cities. That explains why so many citizens elsewhere have expressed hope that the same be undertaken in their cities as well.

The truth is, organized crime is pervasive in many localities, and has perplexed ordinary citizens by the way it peacefully co-exists with the local law-enforcement tribe.

In Chongqing, as we have been informed, it was a lot more than peaceful; it was on very friendly terms with key officials.

The Minister of Public Security has said the Chongqing crackdown is worthy of emulation. If so, the public would like that campaign to be expanded across the nation.

(China Daily 06/22/2010 page8)