RSS Feed
July 12th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
“The key is not so much technical but having good morals,” Mr Wei
said of the skills needed to be a top sleuth. “Above all, you need to
be a good person and not to harm others – unless they commit an offence
first.”
The private eye business – born in Shanghai in 1992 – is officially illegal in
China. Illegal but booming.
Years of unprecedented economic growth and dramatic social change have
provided fertile ground for a legion of investigators.
Incomes and, many believe, levels of adultery have risen. The number of
divorces has skyrocketed from just 341,000 in 1980 to 2.2m last year.
Crucially, since 2002, privately collected evidence has been permitted in
civil law suits, making detectives a key ally of suspicious wives seeking
redress.
Prof He Jiahong, the director of the Institute of Evidence Law at Beijing’s
Renmin University and a leading expert on private eyes, said it was
impossible to measure the industry’s true reach.
“We don’t have statistics and there is no way to get statistics about how
many people work in these agencies,” Prof He said, pointing to 2005
estimates that said around 200,000 people were employed by the business
nationwide in some 20,000 agencies.
“Probably there are more people getting into the industry now. That is
the nature of the market,” added Prof He.
Operating in legal limbo and subject to sporadic government crackdowns, most
of China’s private eyes operate under the guise of legal or commercial “consultants”,
a cover that allows them to operate more or less freely.
But this year, with the crucial once-in-a-decade leadership transition
scheduled for the autumn, detectives say the scrutiny has been particularly
intense. In April authorities launched a campaign against private eyes in 20
Chinese provinces, closing more than 600 agencies and arresting more than
1,700 suspects, according to reports.
The People’s Public Security newspaper said that in Guangdong province nearly
2,500 police operatives “destroyed” 35 illegal investigation
companies, seizing 400 bugging devices and 13 “micro-cameras”.
Mr Wei claimed the crackdown was “a warning”, clearly linked to the
Party Congress.
“The main reason is [that] our industry has probed into the private lives
of corrupt officials,” he said. “I heard it would last for three
months … prior to the opening of the 18th congress.”
Mr Wei said the crackdown had been particularly intense in Guangdong province,
China’s manufacturing heartlands, because the region was home to many of the
factories producing tracking equipment and bugging devices.
An indication of the prevalence of such devices came in April when it was
alleged that Bo Xilai, the disgraced politician linked to the murder of
British businessman Neil Heywood, had tapped the phones of several top
politicians, possibly including President Hu Jintao.
Prof He said the crackdown had been prompted by government concern about
growing links between Triad-like “black societies” and rogue
detective agencies that had been using private data “for evil purposes”.
“The worry from the police department is that private investigation
agencies would turn into a kind of mafia,” he said.
Even amid the crackdown some investigators continue to ply their secretive
trade, attaching GPS trackers to their suspects’ cars or monitoring their
calls in a constant quest for leads. Others have gone into hiding or downed
tools altogether.
“I’m quitting the business,” said one 39-year-old detective from
Shanghai, who has spent recent weeks deleting incriminating files and
disposing of his investigation equipment.
The investigator, who declined be named because of the clampdown but has
worked as a private eye for nearly a decade, said he was tired of living on
the edge. “If the government decides to ignore it, you live. If they
turn their eyes on it, you die.”
Mr Wei was more sanguine. “The business will definitely keep expanding.
The market demand is stronger than [the deterrent].”
Mr Wei’s 1,800-case career has brought him considerable financial reward.
Charging up to 80,000 yuan (£8,000) for a 10-day investigation, he drives a
black Subaru Forester SUV, fitted with silver alloy wheels.
But the heavy workload and unpredictable hours have taken a heavy personal
toll. He has racked up two failed marriages and has two estranged children.
Frequent midnight stakeouts have also affected the health of a detective who
snared his first culprit nearly two decades ago: a wife, caught cheating on
her husband – with the man’s own cousin.
“I will work for two more years until I can’t keep going anymore. Last
year I took one case that lasted over 20 days. My brain stopped working. I
came close to having a stroke I was so exhausted,” he said. “I
feel I can’t take it anymore.”
Posted in 
Tags: 
