Sun Yee On () is one of the leading triads in Hong Kong and China. It has more than 25,000 members worldwide.
It is also believed to be active in the UK, the United States, France, and Belgium.
History
thumb|300px|Map of countries with branches or operations of Sun Yee On reported by law enforcement or in the news.
Sun Yee On was founded by , originally from Teochew (Chaozhou), in 1919. Yee On () is a historical name for Chaozhou. Mainly through ethnic Chinese diaspora, it is thought to extend to the United States, Canada, Thailand, Australia, South Africa and Central America. Chin was deported to Taiwan in the early 1950s.
1980s spill
In February 1986, a former Hong Kong police officer, Anthony Chung, who had become a member of Sun Yee On, asked the police for protection.
Lee Tai-lung (), a Sun Yee On boss in Tsim Sha Tsui, was murdered in front of the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel on 4 August 2009 by members of the Wo Shing Wo gang. It was supposedly a revenge attack ordered by Leung Kwok-chung, a senior member of a Wo Shing Wo crew in Tai Kok Tsui who was injured by Lee during a bar fight in July 2006 in Prat Avenue.
On 22 March 2012, police arrested 102 members of Sun Yee On in Shenzhen, China.
In popular culture
- In the anime adaptation of Black Lagoon, the Thai branch of Sun Yee On, led by a man named Wan, is based in the fictional city of Roanapur and competes with the other organised crime syndicates in the city like the 14K.
- The 2012 video game Sleeping Dogs focuses on Wei Shen, an undercover police officer transferred from San Francisco to Hong Kong and the HKPF as part of a joint operation to infiltrate the "Sun On Yee", inspired by the Sun Yee On, and eliminate or incarcerate their most powerful members.
See also
- Charles Heung and Jimmy Heung are Heung Chin's other sons and involved in activities outside of Sun Yee On.