TheNanfang » prostitution crackdown

Girlfriend Mistaken for Prostitute in Dongguan Hotel Raid

Charles Liu — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 09:55:47 +0000

Qixi Festival is coming up this weekend, and there’s love in the air to coincide with this newly appropriated “Chinese Valentine’s Day”. And yet, couples must take care to ensure their love remains within the confines of the law.

An unmarried couple spending the night together in Dongguan found themselves in police detention when they were caught up in a raid on prostitution, reports Sina News.

Miss Wang and her boyfriend were staying at a hotel near Jinyue Bay, Dongcheng on July 28 when they received a knock on their door at 11pm. It was a team of police that asked to see their personal identification. Miss Wang didn’t have her personal ID, but showed her driver’s license instead. The police left.

However, they returned 15 minutes later to request the two of them to come down to the police station for further questioning on the suspicion that they were in violation of prostitution laws. The pair was detained by police until 11 am the next day.

The couple has known each other for a year, and are set to be married at the end of this year. They have also purchased a house in Dongguan.

The police confirmed later that no individuals were charged with prostitution offenses that night at the hotel. They said the delay in releasing the couple was due to a computer problem that did not allow them to make a proper identification.

As per Chinese criminal law, municipal police have the right to detain suspects for up to 24 hours in order to conduct an investigation.

This was not the first time a man’s girlfriend has been suspected of being his hired company in Dongguan. The prostitution crackdown that has seen thousands of people arrested resulted in police previously detaining such a couple that were later released.

But perhaps cops are just sensitive because Qixi Festival arrives this weekend, known in traditional Chinese culture as “Girls’ Day” and not the “traditional Chinese Valentine’s Day” it is currently marketed as. Rather than a day in which romantic love is celebrated between couples, Qixi Festival is the traditional day for to celebrate girl culture in China. On this day in history, girls were allowed to roam around freely while they held competitions to see who had the best skills to be the “perfect wife”.

The one romantic aspect of Qixi Festival involves the story of the Cowherd and the Seamstress. The story is about star-crossed lovers who were denied being together except on the one day of the year when the ravens would all fly into the sky, acting as a bridge for the two to briefly meet in the Milky Way.

Who knows? If you are in a Dongguan hotel with your soulmate this Qixi Festival, you too might be denied seeing her.

Photo: Hexun

Dongguan Gets Its Mojo Back as Entertainment Venues Reopen

Charles Liu — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 07:01:40 +0000

Dongguan seems to have its mojo back.

Dongguan entertainment venues say they are ready for business following a crackdown on illegal establishments, reports Southcn. Apparently 80% of the venues are back in business as legal entities.

That said, Dongguan says it will continue to enforce the law. Managers of entertainment venues across the city were gathered yesterday and warned not to involve themselves in the prostitution trade. They all had to sign contracts promising to keep their businesses clean.

At present, there are 38 saunas, 465 KTVs, and 631 foot massage venues legally operating in Dongguan. Called the “3 entertainments” to occupy your spare time, the city of Dongguan has a total 1,134 such establishments.

Ever since a crackdown on the city’s sex trade was initiated in February after a CCTV News report exposed the extent of the problem, Dongguan authorities have cracked 281 sex trade cases, found 530 venues involved in prostitution, arrested 700 suspects, and disciplined 1,552 criminals.

Photos: SZ News

No Lights Off, No Private Rooms, and Other New Massage Rules in Guangdong

Charles Liu — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 07:17:50 +0000

Massage parlors in Guangdong are going to be under new rules designed to help clean up the profession, reports MSN.

Guangdong Province is looking for suggestions from the public on how best to police the industry in light of its frequent association with prostitution. According to the report, steam room and bathing facilities will be mandatory in all Guangdong massage parlors in the future.

READ: Man Goes for a Massage in Shenzhen, Leaves Paralyzed

Other proposed guidelines include:

can not provide services within any enclosed rooms
can not set dividing partitions or screens
can not turn off lights
can not have non-transparent doors
can not engage in prostitution

Furthermore, massage parlors must register the personal identification of all clients that request services from 2am to 8am, and then log it with the local PSB.

Failure to comply with these rules will result in a fine ranging from RMB 10,000 to RMB 30,000. The regulations will cover any place that provides massages and includes services such as saunas, hydrotherapy, Chinese manual health therapy, and reflexology.

READ: Foshan Court Rules that Happy Ending Massages
Do Not Amount to Prostitution

Meanwhile, regulatory bodies that will enforce these rules will also be given their own guidelines in which regulatory teams:

must consist of at least two people
must always provide proper identification
can never open massage parlors of their own
can not frequent massage parlors
can not misuse their authority over massage parlors

Starting on August 6, provincial residents will be able to leave their suggestions on the provincial law office website.

Photo: fh21

Shenzhen Masseuse Beaten for Refusing to Provide Sexual Services

Natalie Wang — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 00:00:25 +0000

Xiao Yan has suffered several tissue injuries.

While Guangdong has been singing the praises of the recent crackdown on the sex trade, which has seen over 3,000 arrests since February, one Shenzhen massage parlor has been accused of openly encouraging it.

A 24 year-old woman named Xiao Yan who worked at the Golden Beach Club, a massage parlor in Bao’an District, was hospitalized with several tissue injuries following her refusal to provide “special services” to a client, Guangdong TV reported on June 23.

Xiao Yan lies on a hospital bed.

Xiao Yan’s troubles started two months ago when she was lured to the club by its hefty promise of RMB 10,000 in salary per month. The reality was something quite different, with Xiao Yan earning an average of only RMB 3,000 per month.

However, wage concerns were not her only issue. Among the list of services Xiao was expected to provide were sexual favors. “Some clients requested that we massage them with our breasts. (The club) asked us to massage clients’ genitals, and would give us a monthly salary for doing so. Many clients would be naked and ask to touch us, or even request we use our mouth,” Xiao Yan told the newspaper.

The notice allegedly issued by the club instructs its employees to use “special massaging techniques” on clients.

A signed notice, allegedly issued by the club, emphasized that if an employee doesn’t use “special massaging techniques” on clients, her bonus will be revoked, and the masseuse will be disciplined.

The club, however, fervently denies involvement in any illegal sexual services and claims that Xiao Yan initiated the attack on her supervisor, and that he was merely defending himself. Some female masseuses at the club interviewed by the newspaper denied that any sex is offered by the employees and insisted all services are strictly legitimate and non-sexual.

READ: Foshan Court Rules that Happy Ending Massages
Do Not Amount to Prostitution

It’s no secret that some high-powered officials have been actively shielding the sex trade business from prosecution. Since the province’s vice crackdown, Dongguan’s police chief has been sacked and, just recently, two local police chiefs were arrested for providing protection to the industry.

While it remains to be seen what really happened at the Golden Beach Club, the story has provoked many comments following its publication. By the end of June 23, it had attracted over 2,500 comments on QQ alone.

Most commentators asked Xiao Yan to quickly leave the city for fear of retribution. Aya wrote: “For your personal safety, I suggest you to leave as soon as possible. In regards to yellow (sex trade operators), black (underground organised gangs) and protection rackets, we ordinary people can’t mess with them.”

Photos: Guangdong TV

Mainland Prostitutes Rounded Up in Macau

Charles Liu — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 06:09:40 +0000

A late night raid by the Macau vice squad on June 19 has resulted in the capture of 29 mainland women suspected of engaging in prostitution on Jinguang Boulevard in Liudang District, reports Y Net.

Two mainland men were also detained in the raid, and are suspected of profiting from prostitution.

Ever since a crackdown on prostitution in Dongguan began last February resulting in over 3,000 people arrested, there has been an exodus of sex workers traveling to Shenzhen and beyond.

Related:

[h/t @missxq]

Photos: Y Net

Just a Gigolo: Male Prostitutes Arrested in Zhuhai

Natalie Wang — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 01:24:39 +0000

Guangdong police busts an establishment for prostitution. Photo credit: Guangdong Police Department

Male prostitutes in Zhuhai who used the Internet to solicit clients are some of the more than 3,000 people arrested for prostitution-related crimes in the province.

Zhuhai police first discovered the ring in March when an online group named the “Zhuhai Cool Boys Club” caught their attention. Operating via an overseas Internet server, the club poses as a massage service provider, but under the table it was busy setting up its male sex workers with clients.

READ: Meet China’s Hugh Grant Sex Scandal Counterpart, Huang Haibo

After a month-long investigation, police discovered the club was using a bar called Mongkok Pub in Gongbei Xiawan District as a meeting place between male prostitutes and their patrons, China News reported on June 12.

The police raided the bar on May 9, arresting the owners surnamed Wu and Zhang. Six prostitutes were also apprehended at nearby hotels.

Ever since a CCTV reporter went undercover to expose Dongguan’s rampant sex trade in early February, Guangdong has carried out a zealous campaign to clamp down on prostitution. 3,553 establishments in the province were deemed illegal and 1,200 websites related to prostitution have been shut down.

Home page image: quansn.com

Guangdong Prostitution Crackdown Leads to Arrests, Closed WeChat Accounts

Charles Liu — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 07:54:27 +0000

Over 3,000 people have been arrested as part of a police crackdown on prostitution in Guangdong, reports Caijing.

Ever since a high-profile CCTV report on prostitution in Dongguan, 3,033 people have been detained for prostitution-related crimes, of which 1,497 are described as profiteers or operators of prostitution-related businesses. The crackdown involves a total 1,121 cases in which 214 prostitution rings are said to have been busted.

Guangdong police have checked over 947,000 establishments in which 3,553 have been deemed illegal. Of these illegal establishments, 269 have been banned, 19 have had their certificates suspended, and 3,129 have closed.

READ: Prostitution Returns to Dongguan Under Protection of Local Police

As well, Guangdong police announced that 1,200 websites associated with prostitution have been shut down, and that one million QQ, WeChat, and Weibo accounts have been cancelled.

On Wednesday, WeChat announced they have shut down over 20 million WeChat accounts related to prostitution nationwide this year alone.

READ: Shenzhen Raid Captures Enough Prostitutes to Fill a Basketball Court

These announcements come as a group of legal experts allege convicted sex workers have been sent to labor camps for re-education, reports Radio Free Asia.

A letter signed by the group criticized the new “custody and education” system implemented in place of the controversial “re-education through labor” system abolished last year, saying there’s no difference between the two.

Under the new system, the critics allege a person can be incarcerated by police for up to two years without trial for involvement in the sex industry, whether as a sex worker or a client.

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Photo: cnhubei