The Triads as Business

Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia

by Yiu-Kong Chu

There is no doubt that the triads have become recognized as a sophisticated and international criminal force and, following the handover of Hong Kong to China, there have been increasing fears that their influence will spread to the West through emigration. This book investigates the reality behind the myth with a study of the Hong Kong triads, generally regarded as the headquarters of triad societies throughout the world. Yiu Kong Chu examines their origins, their organized extortion from legitimate businesses large and small, and their more recent moves into illegal activities such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and gambling.

Contrary to the popular belief that Hong Kong triads are replacing the Italian Mafia as the most powerful criminal organization in the world, this book argues that Hong Kong triads may be declining, as other ethnic Chinese crime gangs emerge as powerful crime groups in Western societies.

Based on interviews with ex triad members and victims of the triads, police from Hong Kong, mainland China and Europe, as well as documentary evidence The Triads as Business gives a vivid and compelling picture of the triads as part of a wider society.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, China

182 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 1999

Reviews

[Lee Snyder · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clinical report. Research for newest book. Nothing to this. Reads like a text book never promising to do otherwise.

[Z j · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reads like an 80s newspaper column on Chinatown gangs. Maybe it'll be more engaging if I read the ones in Chinese.

[C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good research regarding triad activities in the 90s. Also much better organized than Benjamin T.Z. Liu's book of the same topic. I just wish the book were twice the actual length so as to go more in-depth.