A lot of global smuggling isn't done by gangs—it’s actually set up and protected by governments to hit their own political goals.
March 25, 2026
Original Paper
Illicit Parallel Trading, State Permission, and Legality: A Comparative Analysis in the Southern Chinese Seaboard
SSRN · 6337838
The Takeaway
While we usually assume smuggling exists despite the state, this study shows that governments often use "vague legal definitions" and "regimes of permission" to foster illegal trade. These liminal spaces allow states to manipulate regional economies and achieve geopolitical objectives that would be impossible through official channels.
From the abstract
This article applies institutional and media content analysis to investigate the legitimation and criminalisation of cross-border trade within the "Southern Chinese Seaboard," specifically between Taiwan and China and between Hong Kong and mainland China, a region characterised by diverse taxation and legal jurisdictions, as well as rapidly evolving political-economic and regional geo-political dynamics. This study re-evaluates common media portrayals and simplistic perceptions of "illicit" and