The Resurgence of China’s Criminal Underworld: Assessment and Explanation

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Based upon a database compiled by the author, this presentation provides an overview of the development of China’s criminal underworld during the past two decades and a quantitative assessment of its current state. Through examining the organized criminal groups, this presentation assesses the hardcore of China’s criminal underworld mafia-style criminal syndicates and its greater base, the underworld society. It argues that a challenge from the criminal underworld has increasingly posed as a serious threat to the transition course of Chinese society. It also gives explanations to the recent resurgence of the criminal underworld in China through a perspective of political science, putting stress on the state-failure factors. Accordingly, suggestions are made to the scholarly community and the policy circles.

Author Bio

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Ming Xia is a Professor of Political Science at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, and a doctoral faculty member at the CUNY Graduate Center. Dr. Xia previously taught at Fudan University (1988-1991) and served as a residential research fellow at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University (2003), and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2004). At the National University of Singapore, he worked as a visiting research fellow (2004) and a senior visiting research fellow (2011) at the East Asian Institute, and a visiting senior research fellow (2012) at the Asian Research Institute. Dr. Xia’s research interests include political governance and transition in China, organized crime, international political economy, globalization, Asian women in politics, and a comparison of China and India.