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Kenji Doihara (8 August 1883 – 23 December 1948) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He was instrumental in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1932.<br/><br/> As a leading intelligence officer he played a key role in the Japanese machinations leading to the occupation of large parts of China, the destabilization of the country and the disintegration of the traditional structure of Chinese society. He also became the mastermind behind the Manchurian drug trade, and the real boss and sponsor of every kind of gang and underworld activity in China.<br/><br/> After the end of World War II, he was prosecuted for war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was found guilty, sentenced to death and was hanged in December 1948.
Kenji Doihara (8 August 1883 – 23 December 1948) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He was instrumental in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1932.<br/><br/> As a leading intelligence officer he played a key role in the Japanese machinations leading to the occupation of large parts of China, the destabilization of the country and the disintegration of the traditional structure of Chinese society. He also became the mastermind behind the Manchurian drug trade, and the real boss and sponsor of every kind of gang and underworld activity in China.<br/><br/> After the end of World War II, he was prosecuted for war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was found guilty, sentenced to death and was hanged in December 1948.
International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to its economic and trade potential and also its position on the Yangtze River. During the First Opium War (1839–1842), British forces temporarily held the city.<br/><br/> The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, opening Shanghai and other ports to international trade. In 1863, the British settlement, located to the south of Suzhou creek (Huangpu district), and the American settlement, to the north of Suzhou creek (Hongkou district), joined in order to form the International Settlement. The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and maintained its own French Concession.<br/><br/> Citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work during the ensuing decades; those who stayed for long periods called themselves 'Shanghailanders'. In the 1920s and 30s, some 20,000 so-called White Russians and Russian Jews fled the newly established Soviet Union and took up residence in Shanghai. By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners.
International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to its economic and trade potential and also its position on the Yangtze River. During the First Opium War (1839–1842), British forces temporarily held the city.<br/><br/> The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, opening Shanghai and other ports to international trade. In 1863, the British settlement, located to the south of Suzhou creek (Huangpu district), and the American settlement, to the north of Suzhou creek (Hongkou district), joined in order to form the International Settlement. The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and maintained its own French Concession.<br/><br/> Citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work during the ensuing decades; those who stayed for long periods called themselves 'Shanghailanders'. In the 1920s and 30s, some 20,000 so-called White Russians and Russian Jews fled the newly established Soviet Union and took up residence in Shanghai. By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners.
Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s was troubled by powerful criminal gangs run by ruthless godfathers, the most powerful of who were Du Yuesheng, known as Zongshi or 'The Boss' of the Green Gang and the Shanghai underworld; Zhang Xiaolin, also a powerful Green Gang leader; and Huang Jingrong, the highest-ranking Chinese detective on the French Concession Police (FCP) and one of Shanghai's most important gangsters.<br/><br/> Their empires included drugs, protection rackets, smuggling and prostitution.
Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s was troubled by powerful criminal gangs run by ruthless godfathers, the most powerful of who were Du Yuesheng, known as Zongshi or 'The Boss' of the Green Gang and the Shanghai underworld; Zhang Xiaolin, also a powerful Green Gang leader; and Huang Jingrong, the highest-ranking Chinese detective on the French Concession Police (FCP) and one of Shanghai's most important gangsters.<br/><br/> Their empires included drugs, protection rackets, smuggling and prostitution.
Khun Sa, aka Chang Chi-fu (pinyin: Zhāng Qífú; Thai: Chan Jangtrakul (17 February 1934 – 26 October 2007) was a Burmese warlord. He was dubbed the 'Opium King' due to his opium trading in the Golden Triangle region. He was also the leader of the Shan United Army and the Mong Tai Army.<br/><br/> Khun Sa was born to a Chinese father and a Shan mother. He adopted the pseudonym Khun Sa, meaning 'Prince Prosperous'. In his youth he trained with the Kuomintang, which had fled into the border regions of Burma from Yunnan upon its defeat in the Chinese Civil War, and eventually went on to form his own army of a few hundred men. In 1963 he re-formed it into a Ka Kwe Ye local militia loyal to Gen Ne Win's Burmese government. Ka Kwe Ye received money, uniforms and weapons in return for fighting the Shan rebels.<br/><br/> When Khun Sa had expanded his army to 800 men, he stopped cooperating with the Burmese government, took control of large area in Shan and Wa states and expanded into opium production. In 1967 he clashed with the Kuomintang remnants in Shan State, which resulted in his defeat, demoralizing him and his forces. In 1969, the Rangoon government captured him. He was freed in 1973 when his second-in-command abducted two Russian doctors and demanded his release. By 1976 he had returned to opium smuggling, and set up a base inside northern Thailand in the village of Ban Hin Taek. He renamed his group the Shan United Army and began ostensibly fighting for Shan autonomy against the Burmese government.<br/><br/> It is claimed that Khun Sa surrendered to Burmese officials in January 1996, reportedly because he did not want to face drug smuggling charges in the USA. Khun Sa died on 26 October 2007 in Yangon at the age of 73.
Khun Sa, aka Chang Chi-fu (pinyin: Zhāng Qífú; Thai: Chan Jangtrakul (17 February 1934 – 26 October 2007) was a Burmese warlord. He was dubbed the 'Opium King' due to his opium trading in the Golden Triangle region. He was also the leader of the Shan United Army and the Mong Tai Army.<br/><br/> Khun Sa was born to a Chinese father and a Shan mother. He adopted the pseudonym Khun Sa, meaning 'Prince Prosperous'. In his youth he trained with the Kuomintang, which had fled into the border regions of Burma from Yunnan upon its defeat in the Chinese Civil War, and eventually went on to form his own army of a few hundred men. In 1963 he re-formed it into a Ka Kwe Ye local militia loyal to Gen Ne Win's Burmese government. Ka Kwe Ye received money, uniforms and weapons in return for fighting the Shan rebels.<br/><br/> When Khun Sa had expanded his army to 800 men, he stopped cooperating with the Burmese government, took control of large area in Shan and Wa states and expanded into opium production. In 1967 he clashed with the Kuomintang remnants in Shan State, which resulted in his defeat, demoralizing him and his forces. In 1969, the Rangoon government captured him. He was freed in 1973 when his second-in-command abducted two Russian doctors and demanded his release. By 1976 he had returned to opium smuggling, and set up a base inside northern Thailand in the village of Ban Hin Taek. He renamed his group the Shan United Army and began ostensibly fighting for Shan autonomy against the Burmese government.<br/><br/> It is claimed that Khun Sa surrendered to Burmese officials in January 1996, reportedly because he did not want to face drug smuggling charges in the USA. Khun Sa died on 26 October 2007 in Yangon at the age of 73.
Khun Sa, aka Chang Chi-fu (pinyin: Zhāng Qífú; Thai: Chan Jangtrakul (17 February 1934 – 26 October 2007) was a Burmese warlord. He was dubbed the 'Opium King' due to his opium trading in the Golden Triangle region. He was also the leader of the Shan United Army and the Mong Tai Army.<br/><br/> Khun Sa was born to a Chinese father and a Shan mother. He adopted the pseudonym Khun Sa, meaning 'Prince Prosperous'. In his youth he trained with the Kuomintang, which had fled into the border regions of Burma from Yunnan upon its defeat in the Chinese Civil War, and eventually went on to form his own army of a few hundred men. In 1963 he re-formed it into a Ka Kwe Ye local militia loyal to Gen Ne Win's Burmese government. Ka Kwe Ye received money, uniforms and weapons in return for fighting the Shan rebels.<br/><br/> When Khun Sa had expanded his army to 800 men, he stopped cooperating with the Burmese government, took control of large area in Shan and Wa states and expanded into opium production. In 1967 he clashed with the Kuomintang remnants in Shan State, which resulted in his defeat, demoralizing him and his forces. In 1969, the Rangoon government captured him. He was freed in 1973 when his second-in-command abducted two Russian doctors and demanded his release. By 1976 he had returned to opium smuggling, and set up a base inside northern Thailand in the village of Ban Hin Taek. He renamed his group the Shan United Army and began ostensibly fighting for Shan autonomy against the Burmese government.<br/><br/> It is claimed that Khun Sa surrendered to Burmese officials in January 1996, reportedly because he did not want to face drug smuggling charges in the USA. Khun Sa died on 26 October 2007 in Yangon at the age of 73.
Official Chinese resistance to opium was strengthened on September 20, 1906, with an anti-opium initiative intended to eliminate the drug problem within ten years. The program relied on the turning of public sentiment against opium, with mass meetings at which opium paraphernalia was publicly burned, as well as coercive legal action and the granting of police powers to organizations such as the Fujian Anti-Opium Society. Smokers were required to register for licenses for gradually reducing rations of the drug.<br/><br/> The program was counted as a substantial success, with a cessation of direct British opium exports to China (but not Hong Kong and most provinces declared free of opium production. Nonetheless, the success of the program was only temporary, with opium use rapidly increasing during the disorder following the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916
Born in 1868 in Suzhou, his father was a constable in Suzhou before the family migrated to Shanghai to open a teahouse. During his childhood, Huang contracted a bad case of smallpox. While his subordinates called him 'Grand Master Huang', behind his back everyone called him 'Pockmarked Huang'.<br/><br/> Huang went to work at his father’s teahouse, which was not very far from the Zhengjia Bridge near the French Concession. The bridge in those days sheltered a large population of hustlers and crooks. Huang Jinrong fitted right in, and organised many of them into a gang who later became his sworn followers. Aged 24, Huang passed the entrance exams and entered the French Concession police force, the Garde Municipale in 1892. Being strong, brash and capable, he did very well and became a detective in the Criminal Justice Section (Police Judiciaire).<br/><br/> With the exception of a brief sojourn to Suzhou, Huang served continuously in the Police Judiciaire for twenty years until his retirement in 1925 after several major scandals rocked the department. Although associated with gangs such as the Big Eight Mob, his public profile was always aligned with the police.
Zhang Xiaolin was one of the "Three Shanghai Godfathers" and, along with Du Yuesheng, was a leader of the Shanghai Green Gang. In 1939, with the Japanese capture of Shanghai, he was appointed puppet governor of Zhejiang. He was assassinated in 1940.
Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s was troubled by powerful criminal gangs run by ruthless godfathers, the most powerful of who were Du Yuesheng, known as Zongshi or 'The Boss' of the Green Gang and the Shanghai underworld; Zhang Xiaolin, also a powerful Green Gang leader; and Huang Jingrong, the highest-ranking Chinese detective on the French Concession Police (FCP) and one of Shanghai's most important gangsters.<br/><br/> Their empires included drugs, protection rackets, smuggling and prostitution.
Du Yuesheng (Tu Yüeh-sheng), commonly known as 'Big-Ears Du' (1887–1951) was a Chinese gangster who spent much of his life in Shanghai. He was a key supporter of the Kuomintang (KMT; aka Nationalists) and Chiang Kai-shek in their battle against the Communists during the 1920s, and was a figure of some importance during the Second Sino-Japanese War.<br/><br/> After the Chinese Civil War and the KMT's retreat to Taiwan, Du went into exile in Hong Kong and remained there until his death in 1951. According to a contemporaneous description:<br/><br/> Du Yuesheng is short and slender, with long arms, a shaven head, large yellow teeth and large ears that stick out. He is always accompanied by armed bodyguards, and his home is a fortified drug depot, well stocked with guns and ammunition. Upon entering, the visitor finds the entrance hall lined on both sides with stacks of rifles and sub-machine guns. The house has three floors - on each floor he keeps one of his three wives. He speaks no foreign languages, yet is always keen to meet people of all nationalities, for he gleefully collects gossip and information, no matter how seemingly trivial.<br/><br/> Du employs four bodyguards: an ill-tempered blacksmith called Fiery Old Crow, a gardener, a former waiter from the Shanghai Club who speaks English and a former chauffeur from the American consulate called Stars & Stripes. Du never goes anywhere without being accompanied by two carloads of armed men. If going out on the town to teahouses and nightclubs, one car always goes ahead to check the place out first. Du follows in his bullet proof car with a second car full of his enforcers. Only when his men have surrounded the car door does he get out. Once inside the club, his guards all sit around him with their guns in plain sight to everyone.
Born in 1868 in Suzhou, his father was a constable in Suzhou before the family migrated to Shanghai to open a teahouse. During his childhood, Huang contracted a bad case of smallpox. While his subordinates called him 'Grand Master Huang', behind his back everyone called him 'Pockmarked Huang'.<br/><br/> Huang went to work at his father’s teahouse, which was not very far from the Zhengjia Bridge near the French Concession. The bridge in those days sheltered a large population of hustlers and crooks. Huang Jinrong fitted right in, and organised many of them into a gang who later became his sworn followers. Aged 24, Huang passed the entrance exams and entered the French Concession police force, the Garde Municipale in 1892. Being strong, brash and capable, he did very well and became a detective in the Criminal Justice Section (Police Judiciaire).<br/><br/> With the exception of a brief sojourn to Suzhou, Huang served continuously in the Police Judiciaire for twenty years until his retirement in 1925 after several major scandals rocked the department. Although associated with gangs such as the Big Eight Mob, his public profile was always aligned with the police.
Du Yuesheng (Tu Yüeh-sheng), commonly known as 'Big-Ears Du' (1887–1951) was a Chinese gangster who spent much of his life in Shanghai. He was a key supporter of the Kuomintang (KMT; aka Nationalists) and Chiang Kai-shek in their battle against the Communists during the 1920s, and was a figure of some importance during the Second Sino-Japanese War.<br/><br/> After the Chinese Civil War and the KMT's retreat to Taiwan, Du went into exile in Hong Kong and remained there until his death in 1951. According to a contemporaneous description:<br/><br/> Du Yuesheng is short and slender, with long arms, a shaven head, large yellow teeth and large ears that stick out. He is always accompanied by armed bodyguards, and his home is a fortified drug depot, well stocked with guns and ammunition. Upon entering, the visitor finds the entrance hall lined on both sides with stacks of rifles and sub-machine guns. The house has three floors - on each floor he keeps one of his three wives. He speaks no foreign languages, yet is always keen to meet people of all nationalities, for he gleefully collects gossip and information, no matter how seemingly trivial.<br/><br/> Du employs four bodyguards: an ill-tempered blacksmith called Fiery Old Crow, a gardener, a former waiter from the Shanghai Club who speaks English and a former chauffeur from the American consulate called Stars & Stripes. Du never goes anywhere without being accompanied by two carloads of armed men. If going out on the town to teahouses and nightclubs, one car always goes ahead to check the place out first. Du follows in his bullet proof car with a second car full of his enforcers. Only when his men have surrounded the car door does he get out. Once inside the club, his guards all sit around him with their guns in plain sight to everyone.
International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to its economic and trade potential and also its position on the Yangtze River. During the First Opium War (1839–1842), British forces temporarily held the city.<br/><br/> The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, opening Shanghai and other ports to international trade. In 1863, the British settlement, located to the south of Suzhou creek (Huangpu district), and the American settlement, to the north of Suzhou creek (Hongkou district), joined in order to form the International Settlement. The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and maintained its own French Concession.<br/><br/> Citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work during the ensuing decades; those who stayed for long periods called themselves 'Shanghailanders'. In the 1920s and 30s, some 20,000 so-called White Russians and Russian Jews fled the newly established Soviet Union and took up residence in Shanghai. By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners.
As part of the plans for the exploitation of China, during the thirties and forties the subsidiary tobacco industry of the Mitsui Company started production of special 'Golden Bat' cigarettes using the then popular in the Far East trademark. Their circulation was prohibited in Japan and was used only for export.<br/><br/> Local Japanese secret service under the controversial General Kenji Doihara had the control of their distribution in China and Manchuria where the production exported. In their mouthpiece there were hidden small doses of opium or heroin and by this millions of unsuspecting consumers were addicted to these narcotics, while creating huge profits.<br/><br/> The mastermind of the plan, the General of the Imperial Japanese Army Kenji Doihara was later prosecuted and convicted for war crimes before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, before being sentenced to death. Yet no actions ever took place against the company which profited from their production. According to testimony presented at the Tokyo War Crimes trials in 1948, the revenue from the narcotization policy in China, including Manchukuo, was estimated at twenty to thirty million yen per year, while another authority states that the annual revenue was estimated by the Japanese military at 300 million dollars a year.