The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...
Category: Scam Center
Chinese Scam Syndicates Shift Base from Southeast Asia to Africa, Report Reveals
Chinese cybercrime networks are expanding operations into Africa as crackdowns intensify in Southeast Asia, according to a recent report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The agency describes the shift as part of a broader trend in which crime “spreads like ...
Thailand Repatriates Hundreds More Chinese Scam Center Workers
Hundreds of Chinese nationals freed from Myanmar online scam centres flew home through Thailand on Thursday, as the kingdom said it aimed to repatriate 1,500 such workers a week. Thailand, Myanmar and China have been making efforts in recent weeks to ...
China’s Role in Southeast Asia’s Latest Scam Center Crackdown
China, Thailand, and Myanmar last week ramped up efforts to curb cyber scams on the Thai-Myanmar border, working to free the foreign workers inside. AFP examines why the crackdown is occurring now and its broader implications for relations between the three ...
Philippine Police Rescue Kidnapped Chinese Teen, Hunt Ex-Gambling Site Operators
A young kidnap victim clad in pajamas and missing a finger was rescued from the side of a busy Manila thoroughfare this week after his abductors ditched him during a police pursuit, Philippine authorities said Wednesday. The kidnappers, like their teenaged ...
Chinese Scammers Jailed for Life as Border Crisis Intensifies
A Chinese court sentenced four people to life imprisonment for their role in running cross-border scam operations in Southeast Asia. The sentences come as ongoing crackdowns in collaboration with Thai and Myanmarese authorities free hundreds of trafficking victims forced into working at scam centers in Myanmar.
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Philippine Police Arrest Over 450 in ‘Chinese-Run’ Scam Center Raid
Philippine police arrested more than 450 people in a raid on an allegedly Chinese-run offshore gaming operator in Manila, the country's anti-organized crime commission has said. Initial interrogations suggested the suburban site had been operating as a scam center, targeting victims ...
Battered Myanmar Scam Center Workers Wait for Deportation to China
Battered and bruised Chinese workers from online scam centers in Myanmar faced an anxious wait with returning home as China and Thailand finalized plans on Wednesday for their repatriation. Scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar's lawless borderlands, staffed by foreigners, many ...
Chinese Officials Visit Thai Border Amid Scam Crisis
China’s Assistant Minister of Public Security, Liu Zhongyi, traveled to the Thai border to meet a group of 300 trafficking victims recently rescued from a scam operation in the notorious Myanmarese town of Myawaddy. Liu would accompany hundreds of victims (held in a camp controlled by the Karen ...
Chinese Minister Meets Myanmar Scam Centre Workers
A Chinese government minister met more than 1,000 alleged scam center workers on the Thailand-Myanmar border on Monday, Thai media said, as the three countries vowed to crack down on the illicit compounds. Public Security Assistant Minister Liu Zhongyi did not ...
Thailand Deports 10 to China Linked to Actor Cyber-Fraud Case
Thailand deported 10 Chinese nationals linked to the high-profile alleged kidnapping of an actor who was rescued from a cyber-fraud center in Myanmar, Thai police told AFP on Saturday. Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmar's borderlands and are staffed by foreigners ...
Southeast Asian Countries Act Against Scam Gangs Amid Pressure from China
The Thai government announced ramped-up action against fraud operations running on trafficked labor across its border with war-torn Myanmar. It requested arrest warrants for figures involved in the gangs, including three members of the Karen Border Guard Force, a militia that controls the town of Myawaddy, a ...
China’s Xi Hails Thailand’s ‘Strong’ Action Against Scam Centres
Chinese President Xi Jinping thanked visiting Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Thursday for the "strong measures" her country has taken against scam centers targeting Chinese people. Scam compounds have mushroomed along the Thai-Myanmar borderlands, staffed by trafficked foreigners who are ...