Nation's efforts lauded in child porn bust(2)

On April 17, police liaison officers from 20 countries and regions were invited to join the campaign.

It took just over a month for the first arrest, with Beijing authorities nabbing two suspects, identified only as Liu and Yang, on May 25.

Liu, 32, allegedly ran the website and had made 80,000 yuan ($13,000) from charging members to access and share obscene images.

Police said Yang, 28, owned the host Web server, although he has denied any involvement in child porn.

Both cases have been handed to prosecutors. Under Chinese laws, people who distribute obscene images face up to two years in prison.

Hamish McCardle, a police official with the New Zealand embassy in Beijing, said governments around the globe must work together to protect children.

"We must maintain a strong message to criminals: Child porn is wrong and the international police community will find you," he said, adding that the key to preventing such crimes is educating children, parents and teachers.

Wang Ping, managing director of the Chinese Society for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Research, said child porn websites can cause people to imitate what they see.

"For some adults, the websites provide a platform for obscene behavior, and they also imitate what they see in uploaded pictures and damage children in real life," he warned.

Cross-border crime

China has an estimated 600 million Web users, and police handled 25,000 cases of online crime nationwide between June and September.

With cross-border crime soaring, Vice-Minister of Public Security Chen Zhimin said international cooperation is vital.

"Chinese police are very keen on joint investigations, such as Operation Angel," he said, adding that they not only catch crooks but also "establish trust among countries".

The ministry previously worked with the US to tackle obscene websites, and has reached agreements with other countries to cooperate on drug control, telecom fraud and terrorism.

This year, Chinese police arrested a major drug trafficker along the Mekong River with help from Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, and has cracked more than 6,000 telecom fraud cases with Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia.

China has established law enforcement partnerships with 83 countries and regions, Yang said.