Sex Trade Crackdown

　　A full-scale crackdown on prostitution sweptover China in February. The operation， which began inDongguan， a city in south China’s Guangdong Province，known for its notorious sex service industry， camefollowing an exposé by state broadcaster China CentralTelevision (CCTV) in early February. An undercover journalistvideotaped “beauty pageants” in Dongguan witha hidden-camera， featuring prostitutes and strippers insome of the city’s hotels and karaoke clubs.

　　This report elicited a strong and rapid response fromofficials and initiated a large-scale crackdown on prostitution.Just hours after the report was aired， the first of aseries of raids were made in Dongguan. More than 6，000police officers swept through hundreds of hotels， saunasand karaoke bars in the city on February 9， arresting atleast 67 people， closing down 12 venues and suspendingtwo police chiefs.

　　The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) followed up ondemands to crack down on prostitution and pornographynationwide. As of February 21， police had captured501 suspects， busted 73 prostitution-related gangs andsuspended 2，410 venues providing sex services.

　　Long-term battle

　　Dongguan， which is located about 140 km from HongKong， has long been one of the primary manufacturingbases in the world. After reform and opening-up policieswere initiated in the late 1970s， Dongguan experienceda rapid development from a small fishing village to aleading manufacturing city. In 2013， the gross domesticproduct of the city exceeded 500 billion yuan ($82.5billion).

　　Yao Kang， a senior local official， revealed thatone 10th of the world’s sneakers are produced inDongguan， about 20 percent of the world wearsDongguan-made sweaters， and 30 percent of theworld’s children are playing with Dongguanmadetoys. World-famous brands， such asNokia and Samsung， also have plants in thecity.

　　After the latest prostitution crackdown，top leaders from four local townships inDongguan - Humen， Houjie， Huangjiangand Fenggang - made open apologies onFebruary 16. They admitted that there wereloopholes in management policies and saidthat they will learn from this lesson andperform their duty in fighting crime to theirfullest in the future.

　　Entertainment venues could only open with theapproval of police authorities， until the approval procedureswere dropped in 2002. “The government shouldponder effective ways to eliminate the root cause ofprostitution，” said Zhu Lijia， a professor at the ChineseAcademy of Governance. “It is time to find solutionsto the problem based on sound institutional arrangements.”

　　“Prostitution has been masked under legal coverin recent years， which has increased the difficulty ofcrackdowns，” said Chen Zhonglin， a law professor atChongqing University. There have also been speculationsthat local police forces may be protecting the sextrade， which is alleged to stimulate consumption andcreate job opportunities.

　　On February 13， Yan Xiaokang， Vice Mayor of Dongguanand head of the city’s Public Security Bureau， wasremoved from his post for dereliction of duty.

　　Local deputy police head Lu Weiqi and severalother officials were also sacked.

　　On February 16， the MPS told police all overthe country that it will severely punish those whoare found guilty of misconduct and malpractice inprostitution crackdowns， as well as those whobreak laws while in charge of enforcement. “Nomatter who is involved， no matter how hightheir positions， all must be investigated to theend， with absolutely no tolerance，” said theministry.

　　Controversy

　　Prostitution has been outlawed in China sincethe People’s Republic of China was foundedin 1949. But the country’s sex trade has stillgained ground in the past three decades.

　　The first case of prostitution that was officiallyrecorded since the outlawing was in 1976 in Hangzhou，capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province. In 1979， similarcases were reported in Shanghai and Guangzhou， capitalof Guangdong. In 1980， the MPS instigated a largescaleprostitution crackdown. The first nationwide raidwas launched in 1989， with similar operations havingbeen conducted almost annually since then. In addition，more than 60 laws and regulations aimed at wiping outprostitution were promulgated between 1981 and 2007.

　　Statistics from the MPS showed that police apprehended19，000 suspects and broke up 6，323pornography-related gangs in 2013 alone， resulting in12，000 cases being solved. “These deeds have shownthe government’s firm stance against prostitution， whichis a source of instability in society，” said Wang Hongjun，an official from People’s PublicSecurity University of China. However，a number of social networkingwebsite users expressed sympathyfor Dongguan’s prostitution industryafter the recent crackdown， postingcomments such as “Dongguan，hang in there！” and “Today we are allDongguan people.”

　　Some argued that prostitution isbased on “market demand” and is“beneficial，” and called for sex workto be legalized. “Such widespreadonline backlash against CCTV reflects the conflict betweenmainstream social values and negative thoughts，”said Liu Dongchao， a professor at the Chinese Academyof Governance.

　　On December 23， 2013， the General Office of theCPC Central Committee issued a detailed guideline onbolstering core socialist values to realize the Chinesedream of national renewal. According to the guideline，core socialist values include the national goals of prosperity，democracy， civility and harmony； the social goalsof freedom， equality， justice and the rule of law； and theindividual values of patriotism， dedication， integrity andfriendship.

　　President Xi Jinping， on February 17， called for greaterefforts to promote such values and set up a valuesystem with Chinese characteristics in line with themodern era. The ongoing prostitution and pornographycrackdown is considered to echo Xi’s call.

　　“Those who think prostitution and pornography arenot newsworthy have been misled. Both the governmentand society need to realize the seriousness of theproblem，” said Fang Jundong， Secretary of the CommunistYouth League Committee of South China Universityof Technology in Guangzhou.

　　Social openness and freedom have increased overthe past three decades， accompanied by excessiveliberalism， which has harmed social morality， said Liu，with the Chinese Academy of Governance， referring toonline “support” for those involved in the Dongguanscandal.

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