China’s national police authority has announced a new nationwide campaign against illegal online gambling amid a far-reaching corruption crackdown.
“The focus must be on striking hard against those who set up gambling web sites and those leading figures and key members who serve as top-level gambling web site agents,” a Public Security Bureau statement said.
The crackdown is targeting access to gambling sites, servers, technical support and payment services, the bureau said in instructing local police jurisdictions and government departments to closely coordinate and cooperate in their operations.
“All regions must strengthen investigation and prosecution work, and persist in tackling cases that are large in scale or otherwise substantive and extend beyond the nation’s borders,” it said.
The campaign was announced in the midst of a trial of several suspects charged with running a major online gambling syndicate and as a nationwide anti-corruption purge launched by President Xi Jinping claimed another two senior officials allied to former national security chief Zhou Yongkang. The wider crackdown has included the arrests of senior officials throughout the party-state apparatus, including for gambling offences.
