Fujianese organized crime or Fujiang gang () refers to

crime syndicate Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

s, similar to

triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...

gangs, composed of

Fujianese people Min-speaking peoples () are a major subgroup of ethnic Han Chinese people, speaking Min Chinese languages. They mainly live or trace roots from Fujian, Hainan, Southern Zhejiang and Guangdong province's Leizhou and Chaoshan regions. In the Chinese ...

. 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. In recent years, Fujian gangs have come under global attention due to their role in attacks against Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors such as

2019 Yuen Long attack The 2019 Yuen Long attack, also known as the 721 incident, refers to a mob attack that occurred in Yuen Long, a town in the New Territories in Hong Kong, on the evening of 21 July 2019. It took place in the context of the 2019–2020 Hong Ko ...

and the attack in North Point on 8 November 2019.

History

20th century and prior

Between the Qing dynasty and the

reform and opening-up The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of microeconomic reform, economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the Ch ...

era of the People's Republic of China, many residents of Mainland China, including those from Fuqing, Fujian, smuggled out of China. Fuqing emigrants and Fujianese in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

faced difficult conditions and therefore organized community associations, which later evolved into the Fuqing Gang (), also called the Fulong Gang (), a crime syndicate that became active internationally and monopolized underground casinos in Tokyo as its main source of income. Hong Kong media reports indicated that the Fuqing Gang collaborated with the Japanese Yakuza, the

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...

, and Triads operating in Mainland China in the operation of underground casinos and the trafficking of illegal drugs in East Asia. Prior to the 1960s, a large exodus of Fujianese people moved from Mainland China into North Point. It, along with Yuen Long, are regarded as the "territories" of Fujian gangs by Hong Kong media, with iron-vote support for their left-wing ally Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions. Early in the 1950s and 60s, the two districts, especially North Point which occasionally dubbed as the "Little Fujian" for once housing many Fujianese-run storefronts, served as the main "base of operations" for the pro-Beijing camp. The Fujianese supported left-wing labour associations and students during the

1967 Hong Kong riots The 1967 Hong Kong riots were large-scale anti-government riots that occurred in Hong Kong during British colonial rule. Beginning as a minor labour dispute, the demonstrations eventually escalated into protests against the British colonial go ...

, and the Chinese Goods Centre () served as the command centre for the leftist.

21st century

On 20 July 2019, during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the radical

pro-Beijing The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp, pro-government camp or pro-China camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) t ...

group "Grand Alliance for Safeguarding Hong Kong" () organised an assembly in support of the police, in which Shek Kang-chuen, founder of '' Hong Kong Economic Times'', advocated violent attacks on anti-government protestors. The day after, scores of anti-government protestors were attacked in Yuen Long. A similar assault on protestors occurred in North Point on 11 August, in which some assailants identified themselves as

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

or Fujianese. On 17 August, Grand Alliance supporters, including Fujian gang members, gathered again to show their support to authorities. Following the violent assaults on protestors, Chinese state-run enterprises and businesses run by Fujianese were targeted. Among those was Best Mart 360, whose founder's links to Fujianese community associations led to vandalism, arson attacks, and looting of the company's approximately 360 branches. In September and October of the same year, Best Mart 360 denied any relationship with "Fujian gangs". Following the violent incidents, pro-Beijing sources praised the Fujianese in Hong Kong for demonstrating "patriotism", while state media ''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...

'' and '' Global Times'' called for "patriots who love Hong Kong" to take to the streets and "prepare to battle". The director of the Hong Kong Liaison Office

Wang Zhimin Wang Zhimin (; born 8 August 1957) is a Chinese politician, a member of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and vice president of the Central Institute for Party History and Literature Research. He was the Director of the ...

, a former member of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

from Xianyou, Fujian, was suggested to have deep ties with Fujian gangs. On 4 January of 2020, Wang was recalled by the

State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

and replaced by Luo Huining.

In popular culture

The main antagonists of the 1999 film, ''

The Corruptor ''The Corruptor'' is a 1999 American action film directed by James Foley, starring Chow Yun-fat and Mark Wahlberg. The film was released in the United States on March 12, 1999. Plot NYPD Lieutenant Nick Chen is head of the Asian Gang Unit. Hi ...

'' are a powerful and violent gang called "The Fukienese Dragons", which is very similar with the real Fujian gang, both in criminal methods and activities, as well as in the violence and origin of the gang (which as its name gives, are originally from

Fujian, China Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

). In the film, this gang, led by violent and volatile gangster Bobby Vu (played by Byron Mann), fights a bloody war for control of

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

with a powerful

tong Tong may refer to: Chinese *Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese *Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities *''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese char ...

, the Tung Fung Benevolent Association (in this case led by Benny 'Uncle Benny' Wong, played by Kim Chan), which is also involved in criminal activities and is the most powerful gang in Chinatown.RogerEbert.com: The Corruptor (Review)
/ref>

References

External links