These Are the Triad Gangs Linked to Hong Kong Protester Attacks

Violent attacks against pro-democracy protesters by dozens of masked, stick-carrying men have shocked Hong Kong. The brazen assaults took place over the course of an hour July 21 in a train station, with police nowhere to be seen. The police say some of the handful of men later arrested in connection with the incident had links with the city’s notorious organized crime syndicates, known as the triads. It’s not the first time triads have been linked with violence against political demonstrators.

Popularly known as the Chinese mafia, there are half a dozen or so main groups in Hong Kong with, according to the South China Morning Post newspaper, some 100,000 members. The three best-known groups -- 14K, Sun Yee On and Wo Shing Wo -- also operate just across the border in southern China and as far afield as the U.S. and the U.K. Triads specialize in the organized crime staples of prostitution, racketeering and drugs, but also have developed a reputation as thugs for hire in recent years, said T. Wing Lo, a professor at the City University of Hong Kong who researches organized crime. Counterfeiting, pornography and cigarette- and fuel-smuggling are also important sources of revenue. Stomping grounds include the crowded Mong Kok area in Kowloon, a neighborhood across the bay from Hong Kong Island that’s popular with both local and mainland shoppers and diners. Police say the majority of triad arrests are for violent assault. The gangs have managed to survive even though Hong Kong is one of Asia’s most crime-free cities.