The South China Morning Post reports that, according to state-run China news agency Xinhua, police in northeast China have shut down over 300 illegal radio stations since 2015. “It was like harvesting garlic chives. A new batch would always spring up soon after you cut the previous batch,” said Liu Weidong, director of Shenyang’s wireless regulator, in the Chinese press. But is the Chinese media to be believed? Just like in the United States, the article quotes Chinese officials claiming pirate radio stations could bring down airplanes, saying that on January 9, 2015 the landings of four flights at Dalian airport in Liaoning were disrupted by a pirate station, even though there is little evidence that FM signals would bounce into the frequencies that airline pilots use to communicate. The story says that Chinese pirates can expect a 5,000 yuan fine if caught, but that many make money promoting illegal medicines, "with treatments for venereal diseases accounting for over 80 per cent of their business." Station operators often get a commission for selling more drugs, according to the Chinese media. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently said it would increase the maximum fines for pirate radio stations to 20,000 yuan. The Global Times quoted a Chinese law enforcement officer saying, "Since these offenders tend to use remote terminals to operate their transmitters, and use fake ID cards to rent rooms, it is rather hard to catch them in action." A 24-hour pirate radio station might operate with just a USB flash drive, a radio transmitter, and an antenna, the story says.