China's Xi meets Thai prime minister with trade, online scams in focus
Paetongtarn is on an official visit to China from February 5 to 8, marking her first visit to Beijing since taking office in August last year.
The four-day visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic relations, which are currently overshadowed by issues such as online fraud and safety concerns.
The recent high-profile case of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who went to Thailand for what he thought was an acting job but was abducted and later rescued from a scam centre in Myanmar, has sparked heated discussion in China about cross-border telecom scams.
Thailand, concerned about the impact on its vital tourism sector, has sought to allay safety concerns among Chinese, who constitute the largest group of visitors to the Southeast Asian nation.
On Tuesday, the Thai government said it would cut electricity supply to some border areas with Myanmar in an attempt to curb illegal scam centres.
Southeast Asia, especially border towns in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, has become a hub for telecom and other online fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations, which says hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to work in scam centers.
The talks between Xi and Paetongtarn also come as Beijing is navigating a new trade war with the United States, triggered by US President Donald Trump's sweeping 10 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports.
In November last year, Thai Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said the country had a good balance between the US and China and expects to benefit from the trade war as Thai exports to the US would increase because the US would be taking fewer imports from China.
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