Harrowing details behind Shanghai's Little Red Mansion

Rape, bribery, organised crime, forcing women to sell their eggs and surrogacy. The story of how notorious underworld figure Zhao Fuqiang turned his little red mansion into hell on earth for countless women over the last two decades has sent shockwaves through Chinese social media. The most shocking fact of all is that many of these women's families are passively supportive of them going into Daoist trade and have knowingly turned a blind eye. How is this possible? This case went to trial in 2020 behind closed doors and details were not released due to privacy. Curiously, why has it become public at this time? Before we go on, please remember to subscribe to our channel and turn on the bell for notifications of new videos. Zhao Fuqiang, the mastermind behind the little red mansion, used to be a small town tailor. He arrived in Shanghai in 2000 hoping to make some big and quick money. He gave up his work for the more lucrative sex trade business through opening up hair salons as a front for luring unknowing women into his network. His own wife was allegedly the first prostitute he recruited. He said to her that if she loved him, she should help him make money for their future. They charged 150 Chinese RMB, which is around 33 Aussie dollars or 24 US dollars for one client. She then went on to recruit more young female workers through her network. They would find women through nanny agencies, online chat rooms and even through prominent recruitment TV channel advertising under the disguise of well-paid positions at the hair salons and other business joints owned by Zhao. A woman who used to work at one of Zhao's salons alleged that he recruited her from a nanny agency and then had sex with her, convincing her to become a prostitute by saying that he would be responsible for her welfare. However, he did not pay her wages and only gave her some living expenses at the end of the year. The woman also revealed that once girls become part of this network, they are scared into thinking their naked photos and details of their prostitution will be sent to families and friends back home. She called Zhao a devil. In 2004, Zhao started a commercial subletting business where he tricked unknowing landlords into signing contracts with hidden clauses and through blackmail and extortion, he would then sublease the stores out again for more profit. In a time frame of nearly two decades, it is alleged that Zhao made around 1 billion RMB, which is 156 million US dollars or 217 million Australian dollars. His network of sex and corruption consisted of very high-profile Chinese government officials who also acted as his judicial protectors. In 2014, Zhao bought a sixth-level building in Shanghai's busy Yanpu district and moved his sex trade there. It is what we now know as the Little Red Mansion, where Zhao provided customized escort services for Chinese government officials and businessmen, organized weekend trips and facilitated sexual relations between the rich and powerful and his woman. The building was full of security cameras, potentially serving as blackmail material if ever needed, and only authorized persons can enter. Many residents living in the neighborhood had no idea such sordid dealings were happening behind the building's closed doors, even though the street on which the Little Red Mansion was located was a well-known red-light district. The first time Zhao's case was reported to the police was when Chen Qian, a graduate from the US, applied for a high-paying job at one of his restaurants. Little did she know that her work location would be at the Red Mansion. She was then raped and used as a sex slave to serve public servants and government officials. She managed to escape the high-security building during a trip to the bank in 2017 and reported her situation to the police. However, the police did not investigate further when Zhao brought in Chen's mother to convince the authorities that it was a domestic dispute. It was later alleged Chen was beaten for her attempt at escaping. Horrifically, she was also forced to make money for Zhao by undergoing egg extractions to sell to fertility clinics. Unfortunately for Chen, the excessive number of egg extractions she underwent resulted in fluid buildup in her abdomen and she eventually became infertile. It wasn't until 2019 that Zhao's world started unraveling. The authorities finally took note when he was reported the second time by one of his ex-wives, Tui Chen, for rape, bribery and prostitution, along with naming a number of higher-level positions as accomplices. Apart from rape, like Chen, she too was forced to undergo egg extractions, which caused her to suffer anxiety and depression. In early 2019, Yan Lu, Party Secretary of Yanpu District Committee's Political and Legal Affairs Committee, tipped off Zhao that authorities were coming to arrest him after learning through the Deputy Director of the Yanpu Branch Police Bureau that he had been placed under investigation. Zhao tried to escape with three women in his car but was later arrested. The Shanghai Little Red Mansion is not an isolated case. There have been other similar cases in the past but none as sordid as the details in this case. One thing which baffled and angered the Chinese society was how Zhao managed to get away with such unbelievable acts of extortion and sex trafficking for over 20 years in a busy neighbourhood and under the There are two reasons for this. First reason, this mansion is not only the workplace of these women but also their entire world. Many of their relatives are involved and families lived and worked in the building. Those who have been impregnated had their babies born and grow up there. Many of these women have husbands who worked as security guards for Zhao. The women themselves assisted Zhao with running his illegal network as PR and recruiters. This included all of his six ex-wives. So therefore there was hardly anyone within Zhao's organisation who wanted to take the risk of reporting Zhao to the police. In the early 1990s, this situation in Shanghai is not new. At that time, money was above everything and at the expense of human dignity. It was an open secret that local wives or daughters would willingly go into prostitution with foreign businessmen to earn easy money. Some would sell themselves for 2-3 year terms as mistresses for wealthy Taiwanese businessmen. Contract negotiations with foreign businessmen often involved escorts and personal services. These are the unspoken rules for any female involved in sales. As Shanghai became richer, locals gave way to outsiders in the prostitution industry. This also provided unlimited supply for Zhao's networks. Second reason, and this is the most critical. Apart from the support of husbands and mothers of these women, Zhao was able to continue for so long through a protective political umbrella, many of whom are his clients. Shanghai's Little Red Mansion had been protected by a huge political force for the past 20 years. The only reason this case made it to the courts is due to Xi Jinping's politically driven anti-corruption drive to target factional opponents within the Communist Party. Many officials involved in protecting Zhao were undergoing investigations themselves. Now something else worth looking at is why details of this case have been released to the public at this particular time, although many articles have been taken down since, but not before causing massive social discourse and outrage in Chinese society. The verdict for this case was completed at the end of 2020, with Zhao given a suspended death penalty and 13 government officials sentenced. Most of these officials are at a divisional level, which is not a very high level. There is speculation that the case has come to light 12 months later due to darker political reasons. In China, nothing can be disassociated from politics. Analysts say that it is likely a much higher network of key Communist Party leaders are implicated in the case, possibly at the current Politburo Standing Committee member level and CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee level, including vice mayors, deputy secretary generals and so on. In China, every jaw-dropping case that sways public sentiment serves a political purpose, such as the cases involving corruption and sexual harassment in the entertainment sector not long ago. Each case was targeting the political influence network behind the so-called perpetrators. It is not far-fetched to say that in this case, the Chinese president Xi Jinping is using this case to target his political opponent Jiang Zemin, whose power base is in Shanghai. Some secrets behind Shanghai's Little Red Mansion may just be too dark to ever come to light. What do you think? Leave your comments below. Don't forget to like and subscribe to our channel.