Because of alleged connections with the sex trade, a Hilton Hotel in China has been told that it will have to give up its five-star status. The Hilton Chongqing, in Chongqing City in the southwest of the country, was closed down recently after a raid by police on the Hotel’s Diamond Dynasty Club. At the raid, 102 people were taken into custody and the Hotel was forced to close its doors for eight days in June.

The investigation into the Hotel’s connection with the sex trade is ongoing and a club in the hotel’s basement has been suspended. Clubs linked to the sex trade are being uncovered in a drive to tackle prostitution in China.

Although police are more used to raiding massage parlours, karaoke bars and budget hotels, it seems that there are also clubs catering to the more wealthy members of Chinese society. These clubs are often found in spas, leisure clubs and upmarket hotels, and are sometimes linked to the sex trade.

The National Hotel Ratings Committee this week issued a statement that, due to the fact that the Hilton Chongqing had sullied the image of the hotel industry in China, it would be stripped of its qualification as a five-star establishment.

Some of the police methods of tackling China’s sex trade have been called into question recently. The authorities were criticised when a woman, accused of being a prostitute, was reportedly dragged through the streets of the city of Dongguan at the end of a rope.