One hundred and one criminal suspects have been arrested since Chinese police started to crack down on what it deems to be obscene Internet activity this August, according to a press release from the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday.

The release said the Internet has been exploited by illegal chat rooms that recruit for sex movies.

"This behavior has severely polluted the Internet environment, done harm to juvenile's physical and mental health and caused strong public anger," the press release said.

The special crackdown was jointly initiated by the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Information Industry and the Information Office of the State Council in August.

To date, 1,568 pieces of evidence have been obtained, from which 76 criminal cases have been put on file, yielding the 101 apprehended criminal suspects.

Chinese police authorities are intensifying their crackdown on Internet "obscenity" to purify the Internet environment.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2005)