Is crime increasing in China, particularly in the big cities? Yes, according to the Associated Press. This also agrees with the other anecdotal evidence one has been hearing from the usual sources in recent months, both from the expat grapevine as well as online chatter on the Chinese BBSs. I dimly recall someone also telling me that the courts are unusually busy as well, but I can't confirm that one.

Lots of stories about muggings, murders, etc. Some lovely grisly details to fuel the stories, and there you have it. We don't have statistics to point to, so that's about as far as we can take things.

So what to make of all this? Well, there are a lot more foreigners and rich folks running around – this is the AP's explanation. Not sure that this makes a lot of sense. Been a lot of expats here for a long time, and the whole ultra-rich thing did not start in 2007/8.

Is unemployment going up? That does seem to be the case, and the government expects that this will increase quite dramatically this year. Food and energy prices are spiking – that's certainly a good reason for someone to steal a purse or wallet. Income inequality keeps getting worse, and that tends to piss off the masses. That all sounds reasonable to me as an explanation, provided that there really is a problem. I've also heard that this is a bigger issue down in places like Shenzhen than it is up here, which is interesting.

Anyone have an opinion on this or, better yet, some real information?