“In China today, cosmetic surgeons can change a face beyond recognition – and the police are going to have to take notice,” a highly qualified Shanghai plastic surgeon told Asia Times Online. Before long, he expects, anyone who wants to significantly alter his or her appearance will first have to register with the police, lest wanted criminals evade capture by gaining a new face through surgery.
In ever-increasing numbers, well-off Chinese are going under the plastic surgeon’s knife – although more often for vanity and as an investment in themselves than for criminal evasion. But as this unevenly regulated market expands at breakneck speed, some analysts have suggested that some of the time the real crooks may actually be the guys in the white coats.