The country's top police officer is calling for a crackdown on mafia and organized crime ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Meng Jianzhu, state councilor and public security minister, is urging police authorities to monitor the movements of gangs and criminal organizations. He revealed the new security operation in a teleconference on Tuesday.

"The illegal activities of gangster groups have been quite active during the country's economic and social transformation," said Meng. "Police forces should cut off ties between gangsters and economic operations and prevent them from infiltrating the political sector."

Meng's remarks come two days after a riot occurred in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in which rioters killed 156 people and injured more than 1,000.

Data from authorities show that police forces around the country have brought down 12,850 mafia-like organizations and seized more than 870,000 criminal suspects and more than 2,500 illegal firearms since February 2006.

Police should target major gangster organizations and root out the "protective umbrella" behind them and cut off the groups' economic support, the police chief said.

Communist Party and government officials must be prevented from being roped in and eroded by criminal organizations, he said. Gangsters must be stopped from manipulating grassroots elections and other political issues through violence, threats and bribery, Meng added.

The top officer also asked authorities from branches of business administration, tax, finance, construction, culture and land and resources to cooperate fully with the crackdown.

In another development, Beijing police kicked off a 60-day campaign against gang crimes starting this month to secure a safe environment for all celebrating the 60th anniversary of New China.

Wang Xinyuan, the commissar of the criminal investigation league of Beijing municipal police bureau, said the campaign will use a number of plainclothes officers to target gangsters disturbing social order, stirring up fights as well as those hiding in entertainment venues.

The target of the crackdown will include security guards and thugs hired by dancehalls, bathhouses, bars and clubs; manipulators and organizers and founding members of gangs spearheading prostitution services; gangsters who extort transportation and tourism markets; those engaged in gambling under the guise of parlors for card-playing and mahjong; and drug addicts at entertainment venues, hotels and restaurants.

Qiu Baochang, dean of the Beijing-based Huijia Law Firm, lauded the move but called for more efforts to reduce corruption.

"The existence and the rampant nature of mafia-like gangs are based on collaboration between government authorities and the gangs," Qiu told China Daily.

"If we do not root out the support that gangs rely on, after the special campaigns they could become more emboldened and return with more severe influence," Qiu said.

(China Daily July 9, 2009)