The crackdown on the underground sex trade has expanded from Dongguan, in the heart of the Pearl River Delta, to all of Guangdong province, with local authorities vowing to severely punish those who protect the illegal services. In addition to the closure on Sunday of dozens of entertainment venues involved in prostitution in Dongguan, a number of similar venues and some rented houses in the provincial capital of Guangzhou and other cities have been raided because of suspicion they hosted sex trade services and other illegal activities, Guangdong police sources said.
Following media outlets' recent reports of rampant prostitution in massage parlors and hotels in Dongguan, provincial police have announced a three-month crackdown on sex businesses across the province. In a separate raid in Guangzhou on Tuesday night, police arrested 98 people suspected of involvement in illegal activities including the sex trade and gambling, and more than 20 entertainment venues were closed.
In Huizhou, which neighbors Dongguan, police raided nearly entertainment venues and arrested 10 people on suspicion of involvement in the sex trade. Li Chunsheng, vice-governor of Guangdong and director of the Guangdong Public Security Department, said government officials and police officers who provide a "protection umbrella" for the prostitution business will be severely punished. According to Li, the provincial department will send working groups to all cities for undercover investigations, and police from other cities will be deployed to make arrests if local police fail to fulfill their responsibilities.
Sources with the Dongguan discipline inspection commission vowed on Wednesday to also remove and severely punish any officials and police officers who are found to be involved in the sex trade. Following China Central Television's report on the rampant illegal sex trade in Dongguan, Hu Chunhua, Party chief of Guangdong, called for a tough crackdown on underground prostitution in the city. Police said those who advertise prostitution services online, through text messages or via Internet chat software will also be severely punished.
Meanwhile, police in Guangdong have vowed to work closely with their counterparts in Hong Kong and Macao to fight against the sex trade, as some criminal organizations from the two neighboring special administrative regions have been found to be involved in the entertainment industry in the province. Sources with the Guangdong police said that criminal organizations from Hong Kong and Macao have invested in some hotels, especially those based in Dongguan, to operate illegal sex, drug and gambling businesses.
