Chinese police urged to fight growing rural gambling threat

Gambling in the rural areas of China is presenting a serious problem, and the police have been urged to crack down on offenders to stamp it out, according to the Xinhua news agency.

The agency quoted Deputy Minister of Public Security, Huang Ming, Monday when he promised that the police will act against operators and what he referred to as the protective “umbrellas” behind the illegal activity.

The minister, speaking at a national video anti-gambling conference, said that gambling harmed the social atmosphere, bred crime and posed a direct threat to people’s property security and social stability.

He revealed that Chinese police have investigated 5.93 million suspects in 1.74 million gambling cases since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in 2012.

However, the country is facing a new situation in the fight against gambling, with rural areas having a serious problem, and Huang ordered police departments nationwide to focus on companies running gambling business, “underground banks” and online operators involved in illegal activities.

“Those who are found to have engaged in gambling and obstructed the investigation of crimes shall be harshly punished,” Huang pledged..