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Crime spree? Blame foreigners, Chinese lawmakers say

Legislators in southern China's crime-ridden city of Guangzhou want to set up an information database to track the activities of foreigners blamed for some of the lawlessness, state media said yesterday.

The proposal by 13 lawmakers was based on data that showed a 40 percent increase in illegal activities by foreigners in the city between the years 2001 and 2005, the China Daily newspaper reported.

"[Foreigners] without legal permission to live and do business in Guangdong -- and especially those who commit crimes -- pose a great threat to the province's social security," Yan Xiangrong (顏湘蓉), a corporate lawyer at D&S Law Firm told the paper.

Yan also serves as a deputy in the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress.

BROAD SCHEME

The scheme would involve "all related governmental organizations, including departments of foreign affairs, public security, health, labor and social security, industry and commercial and civil affairs," Yan said.

No other details on the plan, which was put to the Congress last week, were provided.

Guangzhou has been plagued by purse-snatching motorcycle gangs and other crime linked to its spectacular export-fueled boom.

The crime is typically blamed on the more than 3 million migrant workers drawn to the booming city.

MORE FOREIGNERS

But an increasing number of foreigners have also set up residence or businesses in the province.

There are presently 40,000 foreigners living in Guangdong, most of them in Guangzhou, the China Daily said.

Recent cases involving foreigners have included smuggling and drug-trafficking offenses, the paper added.

Last month, Guangzhou authorities announced that they would be launching a new program to more than triple the number of surveillance cameras around the city to help stem crime.
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