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Chinese Organised Crime and its Threat to Europe: Case Study Researching the Contemporary Issues Surrounding the Increasing Activity of Chinese Organized Crime in Europe.

Introduction:

This discussion is going to explore the rise of organized crime in Europe; it will first focus on the reasons why organized crime is growing in the EU. This will be done by considering the move from power politics to liberalization in the late 20th Century, which has heralded enlargement in the EU which has created many problems in internal and external security. Then the second section of this discussion will briefly consider the attempts by the EU fight organized crime. The third section will deal with the case study of Chinese Organized Crime. Finally this discussion will conclude by analyzing the threat of organized crime and applying it to the theoretical problems of the growth of organized crime in the EU and the overall threat of Chinese organized crime to the EU over the growth in other areas.

Theoretical Reasoning for the Increase of Organized Crime in Europe:  

Power politics refers to the actions of states and their pursuit of power, whereby national sovereignty is the natural state of politics and is the only unit of organization in the international arena. Therefore the international arena is in a state of anarchy and the only way for national security is via deterrence and the gaining of power. This is the core feature of realist theory which can be illustrated in the works of Morgenthau and Carr. Burchill summarizes the realist model of international relations where “Sovereign states are both the primary actors and basic units of analysis; inter-state behaviour takes place in an environment of ungoverned anarchy; and the behaviour of states can be understood ‘rationally’ as the pursuit of power defined as interest.” He also criticises the realist version of international relations where realism is nevertheless militating against structural change in the international system. It is effectively stifling the possibility of transforming, or at least renovating international relations by encouraging ourselves to resign to the present.” This criticism is further supported by the current changes in the international system. These changes include the opening of borders, regional trade, employment and immigration alliances, possible regional constitutions, economic globalization and the modern trend to protect human rights and security on a regional scale. This can be illustrated in the EU by the co-operation of justice and police forces through EUROPOL and EUROJUST, whereby they work together to resolve regional disputes in protection of security and justice because to let on nation breach the basic human rights of citizens in the region, instead of the national security of sovereign states. The possible negative effect of borders opening is that it is increases the effects of non-governmental organizations, which may threaten the security and justice systems within nations. This is because criminal organizations would be included under this heading. Therefore it is possible to argue that this method of determining international relations is no longer significant. However in the advent of the events on September 11th 2001 realism maybe as Carr and Morgenthau argue the reality of international relations, because although the threats to global security do not specifically come from nation states; instead these threats are to nation states and the international arena from non-governmental terrorist groups, such as Al-Queda. In short maybe realism is the situation of reality for the security of nation states in the global arena, but the power struggles are arising from a different power other than nation state, but a common nationalism of Islam. Also the focus on Islam and terrorism has destabilized the approach to other groups of potentially dangerous criminal gangs, which can breach the security of the nation state. To determine a full picture it is essential to explore the view of the neo-realists, who have created a response to international relations in the Cold War era. 

Krasner describes neo-realism as:

“Realism is a theory of international politics. It is an effort to explain both the behaviour of individual states and the characteristics of the system as a whole. The ontological given for realism is that sovereign states are the constitutive components of the international system. Sovereignty is a political order based on territorial control. The international system is anarchical. It is a self-help system. There is no higher authority that can constrain or channel the behaviour of states. Sovereign states are rational self-seeking actors resolutely if not exclusively concerned with relative gains because they must function in an anarchical environment in which their security and well-being ultimately rest on their ability to mobilise their resources against external threats.”

The key aim of Krasner was to re-iterate the fundamental importance of the nation state in international relations as in the Cold War era there was a rise of economic globalization and Multinational Corporations (MNCs), along with these non-governmental growth there was an increase in organized crime groups from all over the world infiltrating Europe, which theorists such as Krasner and Gilpin argue do not threaten the supremacy of power politics and the nation state. Therefore neo-realists allow for trans-national players in the stability of deterrence theory in the international arena and most importantly protecting the integrity and security of the individual state. One could extend this theory to include trans-national security threats to nation states, whereby the stability of the international system is for individual nation states to counter these trans-national threats. These trans-national threats do not only include terrorism, which has been the focus post September 11th 2001, but also organized crime groups and drug trafficking, never mind financial crime. It needs to be noted that there are also close ties between organized crime groups and terrorism; as well as drugs and money laundering. Therefore the defence, justice and security strategies of the nation state, both externally and internally, are essential to deter and protect global security. There are neo-realists such as Waltz who view the post-Cold War situation as a possible situation of anarchy in global security, as there is no longer a bi-polar scene in the world where the West (Capitalist nations)  and the East (Communist nations) have a stalemate due to power politics and deterrence. One could apply this theory to the situation in the 1990s, where there was no longer a steel arm of the East or the West determining the policies in post-colonial countries, therefore resulting in anarchy and civil war and strife.

Traditionally “liberals have always believed that the legitimacy of domestic political orders was largely contingent upon upholding the rule of law and the state’s respect for the human rights of its citizens. If it is wrong for an individual to engage in socially unacceptable or criminal behaviour, it is also wrong for states”. Burchill in his consideration of the foundations of liberalism illustrates how as the technological, economic and means of media grows so does the extent in which states can be held accountable for the transgression of human rights, but also the media can focus on the need to combat organized crime. The problem is whether the protection of human rights and regional and global co-operation is important enough to bring down borders that make Europe and the International arena susceptible to organized crime. The protection of human rights is one of the fundamental cornerstones of liberalism and the modern theories of liberalism have opened up the borders on human rights and the governance. The idea of a global civil society is a very idealistic model, but how does it really compare to the reality of the situation in international relations? The 1990s seemed to be an era where human rights came to the forefront of peacekeeping missions, not the threat of wars between nation states. It was also in this period, especially in Eastern Europe that organized crime groups grew and Chinese Organized Crime Groups increased their activity in Europe. The fears that are pervading the EU are resulting out of enlargement, which is tied closely to the increased activity of organized crime in the region.

The human rights era and liberalization was supported by the expansion of the European Union (EU) and regional alliances, such as ASEAN, where sustainable development, human rights, indigenous rights and ecology became the major factors in modern international relations; instead of warfare and the threat of deploying arms attacks. Yet the problem with this is that this weakening of security and opening of borders with Eastern Europe is playing a major role in the increase of organized crime within the EU.

There is the problem that this idealistic view liberalist civil society and human rights protection may be high fluting ideals that are puts the security of the EU at risk. . The increase of organized crime in the EU and internationally has grown from non-Islamic groups because of the focus on combating Islamic terrorism. Hence the global civil society of liberalism is not necessarily a correct interpretation of state interaction and the role of hegemony. However it has also been shown that realism is not necessarily the best model, therefore this discussion would like to introduce a third possible model of international relations which is a holistic model based on Teubner’smodel of reflexive law. This model is based upon the core belief that politics, law and economics cannot be determined as separate entities, just as nation states cannot be separated from the International arena. This is because each element has an important part to play internationally, they cannot be separated but have to be balanced against each other. Hence this model also allows one to explain the role of MNCs, NGOs and the growth of organized crime in the international arena; as well as providing a better solution and explanation for the importance of internal/external security forces that combat transnational crime. Therefore to fully comprehend international relations one must balance each of the influences and players in order to provide a sufficient model to explain conflicts and the response by the International community and states in conflicts in order to maintain security.

In addition the focus in the world is up in air due to the confusion in respect to the explanation of international relations in the 21st Century. This can be seen in the war in Afghanistan and the US and British attack on Iraq post September 11th 2001. This has seen EU nations focusing on immigration and asylum programmes, as well as freezing and investigating bank accounts of those persons that have originated from Islamic countries. The problem is that this Islamophoba has weakened the EU’s effectiveness in fighting other security and criminal organizations from non-Islamic countries of which China satisfies. The following section will consider the attempts of the EU to fight organized crime, because the escalation of organized crime is greatly de-stabilizing the region.

EU Attempts to Fight Organized Crime:

Ever since enlargement there have been a greater amount of problems combating organized crime, because of decreased security, corruption of public officials in favor of organized crime groups in the newly acceded nations and the breaches of human rights in arrests. Therefore this creates problems for combating organized crime with either prisoners being let off on technicalities, the vastness of places to hide decreasing the effectiveness of policing or the police not interested in fighting organized crime. Kennedy has commented that the EU is committed to justly and fairly fighting organized crime within the realms of human rights and justice; however its weakness is that it relies only on specific domestic member state intelligence:

We are being told that Europol and Eurojust – the new European body to strengthen collaboration between justice ministries and prosecution services – will only act on specific intelligence. This is to rely on the integrity of the state and its officials… [I]t also means relying on the intelligence of other countries and, as I have said before, we have no idea about how this may be collected and by what standards. Justice does not permit shortcuts, but governments will readily pursue quick and dirty solutions to problems if not kept under scrutiny.

Therefore by purely relying on only specific intelligence this will reduce the effectiveness of the fight against organized crime, especially when there is the added problem of corrupt post-communist regimes that have joined the EU after enlargement. This has been countered in the financial and employment area by numerous directives in respect to identification to stop identity fraud and financial crimes; however there are still ways round these directives if you know a corrupt official in charge of the identification schemes. Another method that the EU has chosen to fight organized and serious crime is through EUROWARRANT is re-interprets the way that a state’s obligations to its citizens is being changed, with recognition that combating serious crimes requires collaboration

Throughout the EU. However, countries have to be very careful to ensure that the crimes that a member-state is accusing of an individual is reliable and not corrupt as was the case of Akhmed Zakayev who was domiciled in the UK, but previously a Chechen leader in the break up of Yugoslavia who was accused by Russia of organized crime, terrorism and armed rebellion. However, thanks to co-operation from the investigations of Danish authorities the allegations were unfounded and Britain refused extradition to Russia. The only crime of Zakayev was to champion Chechen self-determination peacefully. Therefore he was not a criminal but a social activist. Therefore this illustrates the need for co-operation within the EU. Yet, the warning of Kennedy should resound in our ears in respect to the intelligence gathered by EUROPOL and EUROJUST, which may affect the EUROWARRANT is that it only comes from specific intelligence, i.e. officials in the member states. Therefore this could be highly corrupt especially in the newly acceded countries from the post-communist regime; hence a move to include intelligence from objective sources especially in respect to leadership and crimes against humanity need to be included, e.g. Amnesty International because usually corrupt officials also may be tied up in human rights abuses and disappearances of objectors and the opposition. The next part of the discussion will consider the case study of Chinese Organized Crime in the EU and the threat to the integrity and the internal and external security of the region.

Chinese Organized Crime Case Study:

The Growth of Chinese Organized Crime:

The common term for Chinese Organized Crime groups is the Triads. This is information that we gain from glossy Hollywood movies; however the reality is a lot closer to home and there are more than just the Triads. Sands describes Chinese society as a breeding ground for organized crime because of its social structure:

Chinese society is hierarchically organized and incorporates guanxi as a mechanism for social exchange1.  This binds individuals into mutual obligate bonds; forming ‘… a dynamic relational network that sustains them in time of need and advances their social status.’2.  In this society, ‘law is marginalized and the legal system is relegated to a lowly position in a spectrum of meditative mechanisms’3.  As the lines between legal and illegal actions are blurred, the establishment of criminal organizations is facilitated.

The growth of Chinese Organized Crime has grown with the immigration of Chinese communities throughout the world. One of the areas that the Chinese immigrated to was Eastern Europe in recent years when Western Europe, the original EU countries closed their doors to this cultural group. Yet in the EU the damage is still prevalent, for example the huge drugs problem in Holland. The problem with Chinese groups is that they are closely tied to so-called respectable officials in China, i.e. Communist politicians and businessmen making it a lot harder to combat organized crime. The activities of these groups pervade all areas of criminal activity ranging from fraud to human trafficking through to weapons smuggling.

These organized crime groups are well established and work with other cultural organized crime groups because as Sands discusses the Chinese Organized crime is isolated to their society in certain criminal activities:

Sands covers these activities in Europe, which include:

In activities other than heroin trafficking, Chinese groups have not yet been able to expand their illegal operations out of their own communities into non-Chinese communities, but what will happen in the future remains to be seen.  In these transnational activities, they collaborate with other criminal groups.  For example, they have links with Russian groups in Austria.

The links between European Organized Crime in Eastern Europe, as well as Western Europe, and Chinese Organized Crime is especially threatening to EU integrity with the enlargement of the EU to include Eastern European Countries. This will make the crime problem twice as difficult to deal with; as well as making it easier for transnational crime to cross the borders within the EC, especially with the close ties between Chinese Organized Crime groups and so called respectable Chinese professionals.

Sands also focuses on the growth of Chinese Organized Crime in predominately the original EU member states:

Chinese gangs involved in human smuggling and money laundering in Austria; Chinese drug smugglers operating through Belgium and in The Netherlands; widespread Chinese criminal activity in Spain, including extortion, illegal immigration, prostitution, drugs and gambling; and drug trafficking, prostitution, credit card fraud, protection, extortion, gambling, counterfeiting, illegal immigration and money laundering in the United Kingdom (UK).

This illustrates the problem that opening borders and liberalization causes. The threat to internal security increased which destabilizes the external security of the region. Therefore it is essential that the EU properly combats Chinese Organized Crime, which will be very difficult as the Chinese communal structure is prone to bred organized crime. Therefore rather than just using their present opening up of the EU’s justice system there needs to be action at the community level, as Sands argues many youths are pressured in to street gangs. These street gangs are the breeding ground for youths progressing into organized crime. Therefore there needs to be action to educate these youths and opening up of the Chinese society to expose the organized crime members at all level; as well as making it an undesirable avenue to take in life.

Conclusion – Effective Methods for the EU to Combat Chinese Crime:

In order for there to be effective stabilization of the Chinese Organized Crime threat to the EU there needs to a focus in this area, rather than a generalized approach that EUROPOL and EUROJUST are taking, due to the focus on terrorism and Islamic organized crime groups. This means that with the organized crime groups that were closely tied to the Taliban and Al-Queda there needs to be freezing of bank accounts to stop the cash flow into these groups. This proved to a successful method that the EU took to fight organized crime in the post September 11th 2001 era in respect to Islamic terrorist and organized crime groups. As of yet the threat to the EU has not been properly realized and a greater effort needs to be taken; however part of the strategy cannot be based on typical power politics approaches of harsh justice, deterrence and retribution because in many of the cases gang members are impressionable youths. Rather there needs to education of the Chinese communities within Europe and a rehabilitative and restorative approach to justice, i.e. the approach support by liberalist human rights theory. On approach to stop destabilization could be to stop and back track on the liberalization process; however this would be sacrificing human rights and individual’s integrity and probably the damage is already done so not conducive to stabilize the current threat. Rather there needs to be a special focus on Chinese Organized Groups and an education programme for Chinese communities because as Sands noted the severity of the threat to the EU is unknown and only the future will tell. Therefore this warning leaves hope for the EU as long as the above appropriate action is taken.

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