Earth Science News
PILLAGING PIRATES
China tells Myanmar junta to 'root out' online scam groups
China tells Myanmar junta to 'root out' online scam groups
by AFP Staff Writers
Yangon (AFP) July 26, 2023

China has told Myanmar's junta to "root out" online scam centres in its lawless borderlands that target Chinese citizens, Beijing's embassy in Yangon said.

Criminal syndicates are accused of luring or kidnapping citizens of China and other countries to lawless enclaves along Myanmar's northern and eastern borders and forcing them to work as online scammers.

The scammers typically target their compatriots and groom them for weeks before cajoling them into ploughing money into fake investment platforms and other ruses, analysts say.

The scams irk Beijing -- a major ally and arms supplier of the internationally-isolated junta.

Beijing's ambassador held "special negotiations" on Monday with the junta's foreign minister on "combating crimes including domestic communication frauds", according to an embassy statement released Tuesday.

"Communication frauds continue to spread in Myanmar border areas including northern Myanmar by severely harming the personal interests of people in both China and Myanmar," the ambassador said, according to the statement.

"The residue of communication fraud and online gambling in Myanmar should be rooted out," he added.

Beijing is a major ally of the junta and has refused to call its 2021 power grab a coup.

Several projects in its sprawling Belt and Road infrastructure initiative are slated to run through northern Myanmar, linking China's landlocked Yunnan province with the Indian Ocean.

Beijing also backs and arms several ethnic rebel groups along its border with Myanmar, analysts say.

Some of these groups have clashed repeatedly with the Myanmar military in the aftermath of the coup, and an alliance of China-backed rebels in March called for Beijing's help to defuse the crisis.

Last month, Thailand cut electricity supplies to a Myanmar border township home to a billion-dollar development that analysts say is a front for illegal gambling and online scam operations.

The sprawling Shwe Kokko complex houses hotels and casinos targeting Chinese customers, analysts say, and is run by the Border Guard Force (BGF), a military-aligned ethnic militia.

Online "boiler room" scams have long had a presence across Southeast Asia.

Victims have reported travelling to Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos on false promises of romance or high-paying jobs, and then being detained and forced to work swindling their compatriots online.

Related Links
21st Century Pirates

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
PILLAGING PIRATES
US sanctions Chinese, Mexican entities over drug equipment
Washington (AFP) May 31, 2023
Washington has slapped sanctions on 17 individuals and companies in China and Mexico over the supply of pill press machines and other equipment used to make illegal drugs. The tools helped make illicitly produced pills, often laced with fentanyl, appear to be legitimate pharmaceuticals, according to a US Treasury Department statement released on Tuesday. The blacklisting covers seven entities and six individuals based in China and one entity and three individuals based in Mexico. "Treasury's ... read more

PILLAGING PIRATES
'Silk of peace' weaves new bonds in post-quake Turkey

Humanity 'has agency over future': new head of UN climate panel

'Guardian angels': Rhodes locals help fire-stranded tourists

'Slow disaster': Indonesians in sinking village forced to adapt

PILLAGING PIRATES
Groundbreaking 3D-Printed frictionless gear for space applications

US regulator backs off Microsoft-Activision challenge

Turning scrap wood into strong, sustainable materials for re-use

UBC Okanagan researchers investigate new use for plastic bottles

PILLAGING PIRATES
Drought-hit N.Africa turns to purified sea and wastewater

Global warming will cause more multiyear La Nina events: study

Drought-hit N.Africa turns to purified sea and wastewater

Mineral-rich nodules and the battle over mining the deep sea

PILLAGING PIRATES
Earlier and earlier high-Arctic spring replaced by extreme year-to-year variation

How a delayed Antarctic melt season reduces albedo feedback

Another step forward in radiocarbon dating and understanding of Earth climate and environmental processes during glacial times

Scientists warn Atlantic Ocean current could collapse by 2060

PILLAGING PIRATES
Ukraine lacks defences against Russian strikes: Putin offers grain to Africa

NATO slams Russia's 'dangerous' Black Sea grain block

SatSure Partners with Rabo Partnerships to Revolutionize Cash Flow-based Lending for Smallholder Farmers

In Costa Rica, saving seeds to feed future generations

PILLAGING PIRATES
Magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits east of Vanuatu: USGS

Philippine death toll from typhoon Doksuri rises to six

One dead as typhoon Doksuri batters Philippines

Litli-Hrutur eruption seen from space

PILLAGING PIRATES
16 killed as homes hit in Khartoum air, artillery strikes

Soldiers say they have detained Niger's president in apparent coup

US blacklists officials who helped Wagner Group enter Mali

China envoy calls Kenya economic ties a 'win-win'

PILLAGING PIRATES
Vibrating vests translate music for deaf concertgoers

New insights into the origin of the Indo-European languages

Gullah Geechee, descendants of enslaved, fight to protect US island

How larger body sizes helped the colonizers of New Zealand

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.