The jungle also provides some of the “Wild Meat” which has become a significant sign of wealth in modern China. In the markets of Guangzhou, in particular, there are cages stuffed full with turtles, snakes, mountain lions, barking deer, pangolins (anteaters), camels, tigers and bears. Many rich Chinese wish to show their wealth to their friends and relatives by treating them to a wild meat meal and others believe that it will help their health and vitality to eat the meat. The belief many have is that eating an animal with a particular virtue will cause that quality to be transferred to the diner – e.g., the courage of the lion, the vitality of the sea lion or the vigor of the snake. Naturally, there are many gangs involved in sourcing, capturing and transporting these creatures, which must be done discretely since much of the trade is illegal, at least by international standards.

Consequently, triad gangs operate across the mountains jungles and deserts of southern and western China searching for precious wildlife destined either for the wok or for traditional Chinese medicine. Those supplying coastal regions are also busy stripping the sea of what treasures may be found, including coral, sea cucumbers, abalone and, in particular, sharks. The demand for shark’s fin soup in almost every Chinese community is very high and most sharks are vulnerable to being captured, having their dorsal fins hacked off and then dumped back into the sea, where they are likely to bleed to death. Again, triad-linked gangs are often responsible for these activities.

Another area in which Triads are active is in the border region with North Korea. The Stalinist North Korean regime is not just very oppressive it has also been very inefficient in providing for the people. Millions are slowly starving and many are forced to eat grass and tree bark to try to gain some additional nutrition. Inevitably, many wish to cross the border into China where they anticipate receiving a warm welcome from the large communities of ethnic Koreans who have settled there over the years in the province which is known as the Yanbian Autonomous Korean Prefecture. Of course, Triad members are also present with offers of high income jobs and international transfers. There is also another form of market demand which stimulates Triad action in this area: the Bare Branches generation. The many years for which the Chinese government has operated a one child per family policy has led to a significant deficit in girls and young women. This happens because Chinese families are very keen to have a son to support them and earn money for their old age, not to mention carrying on the family name and tradition, which is particularly important for a society which continues to place great value on paying respect to ancestors.

Consequently, pregnancy scans which reveal the gender of the foetus are used to determine whether the child should be carried to term. It is illegal for doctors to reveal gender in this way but it has become conventional to provide news of a scan with a happy smile or tragic commiseration so that parents get the message. The exact number of girls who have been aborted is not known and will never be known. Estimates begin at around 10 million and then spiral upwards. This means that there will be many millions of young men who have quite possibly been spoiled from birth (’Little Emperors,’ as the little boys without siblings are called) who will have no women to marry. These boys will constitute the Bare Branches generation and it is clear they represent a potential force for social disorder. Imagine ten million unmarried men moving in to your neighborhood. To deal with the problem, it will be necessary either to export the men or import more women – although some people have offered more radical solutions like starting a ground war somewhere in which all the excess men can be gunned down or bombed or otherwise forced to disappear.

Triads are looking to act while the Chinese government dithers over what to do and it attempting to secure the best source of imported female flesh, from North Korea. These women are favored as potential spouses because they have an understanding of Asian family values, are used to being suppressed without daring to argue and should be grateful for just about anything they get which is better than starvation. Depending on how well the monopolizing of the source of North Korean women goes, the Triads will decide whether to internationalize their operations and they are looking for other countries with an excess of girls who are unwanted or who at least will not be missed who can be discretely imported to China at comparatively low cost. This may involve sub-Saharan Africa or some of the Central Asian Republics.

One final opportunity provided for the Triads by the economic development of China is in the area of intellectual property piracy. It is said that whatever new product is invented and marketed, no matter how complex it might be or how fancy and sophisticated the packaging, there are factories in China who can replicate it exactly within 48 hours. Triad control of this replication provides a significant flow of revenues diverted from legitimate companies into gang pockets. This is supplemented by the lower-level replication of VCDs, DVDs and CDs. On some occasions, it is cheaper simply to invent a home-grown version of internationally successfully products. A completely invented version of Bill Clinton’s autobiography was written and sold to unsuspecting Chinese readers. Several completely made up versions of the Harry Potter novels are in circulation.

Of course, ordinary criminals in China have for years sought to make money by falsifying products which can be sold for money and there are regular stories in Chinese newspapers and magazines about the deaths of dozens of people at a wedding party at which the rice wine was laced with some less expensive filler, such as weedkiller. There was one particularly harrowing incident recently in which scores of Chinese children were killed when the milk they were given proved to be almost entirely brewed from a virulent poison. In these types of activities, the Triad members favor a price skimming tactic – that is, get in quick, make the money easily available and then skedaddle swiftly before the corpses hit the ground.

There are close links between some business tycoons in Hong Kong and triad members and this is presumed to be the case in other offshore Chinese communities. Just like the Yakuza in Japan and the politicians, Triad members find it represents a win-win situation when they are on close terms with important Chinese party members. They have the benefit in the case of China of not having to be concerned about keeping in with the political opposition, because it continues to be outlawed by the Communist Party. Party officials enjoy the occasional nine course luncheon, package of foreign cigarettes and bottle of French cognac. In return, there may be some influence applied in awarding government contracts or else an eye closed to some illicit operation. Whether this is true or not, Chinese social associations in virtually every country of the world have been accused of such connections. Connections of this sort can be very useful in laundering money, since government officials are often instrumental in deciding where and when government projects are to take place. It is said that there is scarcely a bridge or a dam which has not been built with the help of ill-gained Triad money.