Organized crime in Taiwan

Last updated
Organized crime in Taiwan
Founding location Taiwan
Years active1950s–present
Territory Taiwan; active in mainland China, Southeast Asia, United States
EthnicityPrimarily Han Chinese
Membership (est.)10,000+ [1]
Criminal activities Human trafficking, racketeering, drug trafficking, extortion, murder, robbery, smuggling, arms trafficking, gambling, prostitution, money laundering, fraud, financial crime

Organized crime in Taiwan refers to the activities of criminal syndicates in Taiwan. The organized crime societies, often referred to as Taiwanese triads or gangs, are involved in racketeering, drug trafficking, assassination, and various other illegal activities. The three largest triads in Taiwan are Bamboo Union, Four Seas Gang, and Heavenly Way Gang.

Contents

Terminology

In Taiwan, the criminal underworld is commonly referred to as heidao (Chinese :黑道; lit.'black way'), heibang (Chinese :黑幫; lit.'black gang'), or heishehui (Chinese :黑社會; lit.'black society'). [2] Members of organized crime are colloquially called xiongdi (Chinese:兄弟), [3] whereas a leader or chief is sometimes called dage (Chinese :大哥; lit.'big brother').

History

The development of modern organized triads in Taiwan largely goes back to the 1950s following the retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan. The Four Seas Gang was founded in 1955 and is the second largest gang in Taiwan with 46 branches and over 700 known members. [4] The Bamboo Union was formed by waishengren children of Kuomintang soldiers who wanted to consolidate power against Hoklo Taiwanese. The first members lived on Zhulin Road (Chinese :竹林; lit.'bamboo forest') in what is now Yonghe District in New Taipei City. [5] It was established in 1957. [4]

Chang An-lo, former leader of the Bamboo Union An-Le Chang 20140401 Support CSTA in Taipei.jpg
Chang An-lo, former leader of the Bamboo Union

In 2020, declassified documents showed that the Bamboo Union had close ties with the Kuomintang (KMT) government and Chiang Kai-shek family during the martial law period known as White Terror. Between 1960 and 1984, Bamboo Union members held up to 19 top government positions, including posts in the National Security Bureau, all branches of the armed forces, and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. [6] Former leader Chang An-lo confirmed the 1984 plot to assassinate writer Henry Liu after his publication of an unauthorized biography of president Chiang Ching-kuo. He recounted that intelligence bureau chief Wang Hsi-ling sent gangsters Chen Chi-li and Wu Dun to assassinate Liu, though according to another account, Chiang Hsiao-wu dispatched the gangsters. [7]

In response to the public outcry over Liu's murder, the government carried out Operation Clean Sweep, a widespread crackdown that led to the arrest of 2,346 gangsters and confiscation of large quantities of guns and knives. Small-time jiaotou boss Lo Fu-chu was imprisoned and suffered at the hands of other gangs. Three years later, in 1986, Lo created an alliance of local jiaotou gangs named the Heavenly Way Gang (Chinese:天道盟), now the third largest gang, as a benshengren response to the waishengren-dominated gangs. [4] [8]

After martial law was lifted in 1987, organized crime saw a surge in the supply of smuggled guns and drugs, resulting from a reduction in maritime patrols. Mob infiltration of business and politics became more common in the 1990s. [8]

In recent years, gang groups have expanded operations "by engaging in telecom fraud, online gambling, cross-border money laundering, arms and drugs trafficking, and other crimes" according to government officials. In a committee briefing, interior minister Lin Yu-chang noted that crackdowns on gang activity have identified 1,180 crime organizations across the country, with 755 businesses operated by gangs. [9]

International activity

In 2008, the Bamboo Union was ranked by Foreign Policy as one of the world's most dangerous gangs. It was linked to the kidnapping of Hong Kong businessman Wong Yuk-kwan in 2015. [1]

Taiwanese gangs have also been linked to human trafficking schemes in Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia and Myanmar. In 2022, Taiwanese law enforcement reported over 80 individuals were scammed into going to Cambodia that year. Victims are then coerced into committing wire fraud. [10]

Taiwanese film Monga (2010) depicts organized criminal activity, such as prostitution, in 1980s Wanhua District. [11] Netflix series The Brothers Sun (2024) starring Michelle Yeoh is also in the gangster genre that portrays the organized crime underworld of Taiwan. [12]

Funerals of crime bosses have become a cultural phenomenon, often covered in national media. The funeral of a Tainan local boss was attended by 3,000 alleged gang members, mostly from Taipei. Law enforcement speculated that these visiting groups aimed to use the occasion as a way to recruit members for their respective gangs. [13] In 2023, a YouTube video of a crime boss's 2019 funeral reached over a million views. Criminal Investigation Bureau police asked the site to take down the video, on the grounds that gangs may use it to recruit youth members. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiang Ching-kuo</span> President of Taiwan from 1978 to 1988

Chiang Ching-kuo was a Chinese politician of the Republic of China. The eldest and only biological son of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China and ended martial law in 1987. He served as premier of the Republic of China between 1972 and 1978 and was president of the Republic of China from 1978 until his death in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiwan Solidarity Union</span> Political party in Taiwan

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is a political party in Taiwan which advocates Taiwan independence, and is affiliated with the Taiwanese localization movement. It was officially founded on 12 August 2001 and is considered part of the Pan-Green Coalition. Unlike the Democratic Progressive Party, its larger companion party in the Pan-Green Coalition, the TSU actively campaigns for the creation of a de jure Republic of Taiwan. The future of the party is in doubt after the 2016 elections as the party failed to secure enough votes to be eligible for state funding.

Black gold is a term used in Taiwan to refer to political corruption, underworld politics and political violence. The term refers to the obtaining of money through a dark, secretive, and corrupt method.

The United Bamboo Gang, also known as the Bamboo Union, is the largest of Taiwan's three main criminal Triads. They are reported to have roughly 20,000 members. The membership consists largely of waishengren and has had historic ties to the Kuomintang; they are said to be motivated as much by political ideology as by profit. They are known to simply call themselves "businessmen", but in reality, are also involved in organized killings and drug trafficking. The gang gained global notoriety when it became directly involved in politics in the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Wang Yu</span> Taiwanese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (1943–2022)

Jimmy Wang Yu was a Hong Kong-Taiwanese martial artist, actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. Initially a contract player for Shaw Brothers, he rose to fame for his starring role in One-Armed Swordsman (1967) and its sequels, and was one of the first major stars of martial arts and wuxia cinema. At the height of his fame in the 1970s, he was the highest-paid martial arts actor in the world. According to The New York Times, Wang was "the biggest star of Asian martial arts cinema until the emergence of Bruce Lee."

Shui Fong, also known as the Wo On Lok (WOL), is one of the main Triad groups in Southern China, operating especially in Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese communities abroad.

The Four Seas Gang, or FSG is a triad society based in Taiwan. It includes mainland Chinese and their descendants who fled to Taiwan with the KMT. The Four Seas Gang has an estimated membership 10,000 in Taiwan. Its members have extended their influence to cities in the southern region of California. Its American constituents are a branch off of the original Taiwan society. There are also smaller factions that are merely street gangs, warring with other gangs of low notoriety. Four Seas Gang is active in alien smuggling in Southern California. Their territories are mainly Los Angeles and Santa Ana California. They use the color grey for their individual clothing for the gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Liu</span> Taiwanese-American writer and journalist

Henry Liu, often known by his pen name Chiang Nan, was a Taiwanese-American writer and journalist. He was a vocal critic of the Kuomintang, then the single ruling party of the Republic of China in Taiwan, and was most famous for writing an unauthorized biography of Chiang Ching-kuo, then president of the Republic of China. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States, and resided in Daly City, California, where he was assassinated by Bamboo Union members who had been reportedly trained by the Kuomintang's military intelligence division.

The Flying Dragons, also known as FDS, was a Chinese American street gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Formed in 1967, by immigrants primarily from Hong Kong, they are affiliated with the Hip Sing Tong. Throughout the 1980s, the gang often engaged in bloody turf wars with the newer Ghost Shadows gang. Their activities have included extortion, kidnapping, murder, racketeering, and illegal gambling. The gang moved heavily into heroin trafficking after the Italian-American Mafia lost the trade as a result of the Pizza Connection prosecutions in the mid-1980s.

Waishengren, sometimes called mainlanders, are a group of migrants who arrived in Taiwan from mainland China between the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, and Kuomintang retreat and the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. They came from various regions of mainland China and spanned multiple social classes. The term is often seen in contrast with benshengren, which refers to Hoklo and Hakka people in Taiwan who arrived prior to 1945 who had lived under Japanese rule. The term excludes other ethnic Chinese immigrants and later immigrants from mainland China.

Chen Chi-li, nicknamed King Duck or Dry Duck, was a Taiwanese gangster from China, best known for heading the United Bamboo Gang. His murder of dissident journalist Henry Liu in Daly City, California, United States, in 1984 has been described by the Financial Times as "the most prominent example of the Kuomintang's co-operation with gangsters in upholding its dictatorship".

The 14K (十四K) is a triad group based in Hong Kong but active internationally. It is the second largest triad group in the world with around 20,000 members split into thirty subgroups. They are the main rival of the Sun Yee On, which is the largest triad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chang An-lo</span> Taiwanese Chinese ultranationalist

Chang An-lo, also known as the White Wolf, is a Taiwanese Chinese ultranationalist, organized crime figure, entrepreneur, and politician. He is supportive of Chinese unification, having founded the Chinese Unification Promotion Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of China (1912–1949)</span> Republic of China prior to move to Taiwan

The Republic of China (ROC), or simply China, was a sovereign state based on mainland China from 1912 to 1949 prior to the government's relocation to Taiwan, where it continues to be based today. The ROC was established on 1 January 1912 during the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty, ending the imperial history of China. The Republican government was ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT) as a one-party state based in Nanjing from 1927, until its flight to Taipei on 7 December 1949 following the KMT's de facto defeat by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Chinese Civil War. The CCP proclaimed the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, while the ROC retains control over the "Free Area", with the political status of Taiwan remaining in dispute to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triad (organized crime)</span> Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate

A triad is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant overseas Chinese populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Han Kuo-yu</span> Taiwanese politician (born 1957)

Han Kuo-yu is a Taiwanese politician and retired Republic of China Army officer who is the current president of the Legislative Yuan.

Sam Gor, also known as The Company, is an international crime syndicate, based in Asia-Pacific. The organization is made up of members of five different triads: 14K, Bamboo Union, Big Circle Boys, Sun Yee On and Wo Shing Wo. Sam Gor is understood to be headed by Chinese–Canadian Tse Chi Lop, who was arrested in January 2021 in the Netherlands. The syndicate is primarily involved in drug trafficking, earning at least $8 billion per year.

Fujianese organized crime or Fujian gang refers to crime syndicates, similar to triad gangs, composed of Fujianese people. The term primarily refers to Fujianese immigrant gangs in Hong Kong, but can also refer more broadly to Fujianese community associations or to native crime syndicates in the province of Fujian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Kuomintang chairmanship election</span>

The 2021 Kuomintang chairmanship election was scheduled to be held in July 2021. It was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually rescheduled for 25 September 2021. It was the tenth direct election of the party leader in Kuomintang (KMT) history. All registered, due-paying KMT party members were eligible to vote.

References

  1. 1 2 "How Bamboo grew: 10,000-strong Taiwanese triad linked to Hong Kong executive's kidnapping is 'one of world's most dangerous gangs'". South China Morning Post. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-10-30. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "黑道". 重編國語辭典修訂本. Ministry of Education Taiwan. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "兄弟". 重編國語辭典修訂本. Ministry of Education. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Chuang, Jimmy (7 November 2004). "Bamboo Union tops list of gangs". Taipei Times. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Kyne, Phelim (21 July 2000). "Blood & drugs – a guide to the Bamboo Union". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Pan, Jason (25 June 2020). "Files show KMT links with gangs". Taipei Times. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Yang, Sophia (25 June 2020). "Declassified secret documents show close ties between Taiwan KMT, Bamboo Union before 1984". Taiwan News. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 Ferry, Timothy (23 May 2016). "Is the Mob Receding or Just Going Lower Profile?". The News Lens. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Shan, Shelley (11 April 2023). "Police to tackle organized crime". Taipei Times. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Kung, Te-lian (9 August 2022). "台灣黑幫、柬國詐騙集團：跨國博弈餘燼下新生的人口販運鏈". The Reporter (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Mo, Yan-chih (15 February 2010). "FEATURE : Film fuels interest in Wanhua with brothels, gangs". Taipei Times. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Devore, Britta (10 November 2023). "Michelle Yeoh Lives a Double Life in 'The Brothers Sun' Trailer". Collider. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Cheng, Ping-chang (1 April 2021). "【角頭槍殺】北部幫派大動員出席「建文」告別式 警疑藉機吸收勢力插旗". China Times (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Liu, Yung-yun (11 September 2023). "專訪》黑幫電影及大哥喪禮片成幫派另類宣傳 刑警曝青少年危機". China Times (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 18 December 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.