The Triads as Business: 6 (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia) - Hardcover

Chu, Yiu-kong

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415170923 ISBN 13: 9780415170925

Publisher: Routledge, 1999

Synopsis

There is no doubt that the triads have become recognized as a sophisticated and international criminal force and, following the handover of Hong Kong to China, there have been increasing fears that their influence will spread to the West through emigration. This book investigates the reality behind the myth with a study of the Hong Kong triads, generally regarded as the headquarters of triad societies throughout the world. Yiu Kong Chu examines their origins, their organized extortion from legitimate businesses large and small, and their more recent moves into illegal activities such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and gambling.

Contrary to the popular belief that Hong Kong triads are replacing the Italian Mafia as the most powerful criminal organization in the world, this book argues that Hong Kong triads may be declining, as other ethnic Chinese crime gangs emerge as powerful crime groups in Western societies.

Based on interviews with ex triad members and victims of the triads, police from Hong Kong, mainland China and Europe, as well as documentary evidence The Triads as Business gives a vivid and compelling picture of the triads as part of a wider society.

About this title

About the Author

Yiu Kong Chu is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at The University of Hong Kong. He is also the Hong Kong Representative of the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, UK.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415170923
• ISBN 13: 9780415170925
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 182