The Aporia
Cheung, S. (2026, October 1). ‘Brotherhood is a myth’: Hong Kong’s triads evolve amid new criminal landscape. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3369476/brotherhood-myth-hong-kongs-triads-evolve-amid-new-criminal-landscape?utm_source=rss_feed
Cheung, Simpson. “‘Brotherhood is a myth’: Hong Kong’s triads evolve amid new criminal landscape.” South China Morning Post, 1 Oct. 2026, https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3369476/brotherhood-myth-hong-kongs-triads-evolve-amid-new-criminal-landscape?utm_source=rss_feed.
Cheung, Simpson. “‘Brotherhood is a myth’: Hong Kong’s triads evolve amid new criminal landscape.” South China Morning Post, October 1, 2026. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3369476/brotherhood-myth-hong-kongs-triads-evolve-amid-new-criminal-landscape?utm_source=rss_feed.
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In Hong Kong, former gang member Jason and experts describe how modern triads are evolving away from traditional rites and crimes, now recruiting young people online for digital fraud. When Jason entered secondary school, he was bullied by an older student with triad connections; another senior protected him and recruited him into a syndicate without any initiation ritual. Initially involved in street-level activities like bullying at housing estates, Jason later joined the core group where he realized that business interests, not brotherhood, drive gang operations. He observed that the inner circle used the triad to generate income. This shift reflects how Hong Kong's criminal landscape is adapting to new opportunities and methods of recruitment among youth.