China nabs 600 in online gambling raids

Twist or stick?

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 21st January 2005 13:15 GMT

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Police in China have arrested 600 people and seized CNY23m (£1.5m) as part of a countrywide crackdown on illegal online gambling.

In all, some 220 people were detained in a series of raids on what state media sources are claiming to be a "clandestine internet-based gambling company".

Police claim the Taiwan-based gambling outfit had been working with criminals in China for almost a year.

Three guns were also seized in the raids.

China has made no secret of its dislike of the Internet and the impact the web has had on this closed society. A recent article in a Communist Party magazine penned by a senior official warned that the domination of the English language and Western ideas online are a threat to China's cultural identity.

"The use of the Internet for cultural aggression is extremely dangerous, threatening to a people's culture, independence and freedom, even going so far to possibly unsettle a people's or a country's foundations," it said.

Officials aren't keen on online gambling or smut either. ®