Environmental challenges in China

This chapter focuses on the situation in East and South-East Asia, it is important to acknowledge that the circumstances in South Asia, West and Central Asia will also have a bearing on trends in transnational crime. Asia covers a vast area and includes more than half the world’s population, and the People’s Republic of China and India are the two most populous nations in the world. Asia hosts all the major world religions, but also includes socialist market states, like China and Viet Nam. In South-East Asia, crime groups of interest include the Chinese ‘black societies’ or triads, Japanese organized crime and the military-style ethnic groups controlling amphetamine-type stimulants and opium production in the golden triangle. The significance of transnational organized crime as both a global and national threat only has been elevated as a ‘clear and present danger’ for international security. © 2013 Routledge.