Editor’s Letter
Crime Time
The smog chokes us, the traffic chases us, and the food kills us, but we here in Beijing are pretty safe from serious crime. That being said, China, just like everywhere else in the world, has its problems with those who flout society’s laws, from cunning street hustlers, to drug peddling websites, right through to gruesome murderers. This issue studies modern crime and some of China’s most famous lawbreakers, a look into China’s underbelly and the gray area that is legality.
The old adage “if it bleeds it leads” is perhaps a cruel but honest explanation of the emphasis on crime in the media in a broader sense. However, behind both the victims and the perpetrators are the police. Ginger Huang brings us “Super Cops” to take a look at some of China’s most impressive police officers, tales of derring-do and good old fashioned deductive reasoning.
The online sale of narcotics, their analogues, and designer chemicals in China has moved the war against drugs off the streets and onto the click of a mouse and touch of a screen. China’s legislation has trouble keeping up with all the designer drugs, and this growing industry of online drug dealing is a booming trade with little to stand in its way. Carlos Ottery looks at how the drugs make their way from the webpage to your front door and how it’s changing the face of narcotics in the modern Middle Kingdom.
The kidnapping of a child is perhaps the cruelest of all crimes. Today in China, there are tens of thousands of child kidnappings every year, and the trafficking of young children shows no signs of abating. Charlie Custer explains the ins-and-outs of child trafficking and the destroyed lives it leaves behind in his piece, “Stolen Childhoods”.
Li Hao (李浩), Wu Jianchen (吴建臣), Li Shangxi (李尚熙), Yang Mingjin (杨名金), Li Shangkun (李尚昆), Peng Miaoji (彭妙计), Yang Shubin (杨树彬)—all Chinese serial killers. These brutal, callous murderers are infamous for their brutal victimization of innocents throughout the nation, but what is perhaps more interesting is how these killers and their atrocities are treated by the authorities and the media. Robert Foyle Hunwick brings us “Sino-Serial Killers”, which looks at the culture surrounding serial killers in China.
If you’re still in the mood for some criminally good entertainment, check out this issue’s On the Character, which looks at 罪 and the sordid history of crime and punishment in ancient China. If your tastes run a little more macabre, head on over to Made in China which looks at the ancient and mystical practice of corpse walking. If you’ve lost your taste for all things illegal, then have a feast for the eyes over at Kaleidoscope, which looks at one of the most ancient apartment blocks in China. You’d better look now; it’ll be gone soon. Gallery’s got some beach shots that’ll make you appreciate your vacation more, but check out On the Road if your holidays hinge on the harrowing.
So, with all this crime and culture in mind, from all of us here at TWOC, stay safe.
Tyler Roney
Managing Editor
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