Latest news with #LiuZhongyi
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why China may face 'scrutiny' over using police diplomacy to help developing world
On Thursday, 200 Chinese nationals rescued from online scam centres in Myanmar were repatriated to China, while hundreds more are expected to arrive in China in the coming days, according to Beijing's Ministry of Public Security. The repatriation operation came after a flurry of visits to Thailand and Myanmar by Liu Zhongyi, China's assistant minister for public security. Liu is now coordinating with the two Southeast Asian countries to crack down on cyber fraud operations in the region, which police and human rights groups say involve human rights abuses apart from criminal activity. Meanwhile, some 8,000km (4,970 miles) away in the southwestern Pacific, a group of Chinese liaison officers was wrapping up police tactical training for local officers in the Solomon Islands earlier this month. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. China is expected to increase this type of police diplomacy to expand its influence and protect overseas interests as the world's second largest economy, as well as the second biggest outbound investor and largest source of international tourists. Such foreign exchanges on law and order may improve China's image as a security partner in developing countries, but these are also coming under increasing international scrutiny, according to a China-based analyst. The Chinese embassy in Honiara, the Solomons' capital, said on social media on February 11 that 30 local officers took part in the latest training. The topics covered included DNA evidence identification, investigating telecoms fraud, and sexual assault and drug crime prevention, aimed at equipping officers "with skills and tactics to guide and to strengthen the safety concept and improve their operational capabilities". This was the first Solomons' first police training of the year by Chinese liaison officers, under a mechanism launched in 2022. It came weeks after Australia - apparently with China in mind - announced a A$190million (US$118 million) package to support the archipelago's police force, "thereby reducing its reliance on external partners over time", according to a joint statement by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Solomons counterpart Jeremiah Manele. Li Zhiyong, an international relations professor with the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said: "As China's overseas economic influence expands around the world, there is a stronger need to project China's overseas interest, as well as the safety of Chinese nationals abroad. "In cases such as the telecoms scams, it usually involves not just technical cooperation between the police forces but also coordination at foreign policy levels because of the complexity and the huge interest behind [it], so I think this is a trend." Considered a niche area of traditional foreign policy, policing diplomacy empowers law enforcement representatives with diplomatic functions. They work to share intelligence, resolve conflicts and foster security and stability. It is less sensitive than military cooperation but usually involves training, joint patrols or exports, or the donation of technologies and equipment to economically underdeveloped countries, according to Li, who specialises in China's international policing cooperation. "The police training is more in the form of foreign assistance from China, because this is something the recipient nations need, and I think that could also help improve China's image in the region," he said. China's police diplomacy has been largely carried out under international mechanisms such as Interpol, as well as under anti-terrorism cooperation with regional groups, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a Eurasian political and security organisation formed in 2001 by China and Russia with Central Asian nations. Meanwhile, Chinese police officers have been deployed to its embassies in at least 48 countries, where they work with local law enforcement authorities in tackling crimes involving or targeted at Chinese nationals "to better protect the personal safety and rightful interest of the Chinese citizens and companies", according to China's public security ministry in 2023. Amid worsening geopolitical tensions with the United States, China is moving to promote itself as a security partner - and policing diplomacy has appeared to play a larger role in this. In 2022, President Xi Jinping announced the Global Security Initiative, which called for "indivisible security" - different from the "collective security" on which the US alliance network is based - while advocating for greater security cooperation in "areas such as counterterrorism, cybersecurity, biosecurity, emerging technologies and international policing". In March last year, Beijing revised its Organic Law of the State Council, mandating that state councillors take more responsibility for diplomacy. Since then, Wang Xiaohong, state councillor and public security minister, has been increasingly active in international scenarios, meeting counterparts from countries such as New Zealand, Finland and Iran with calls to strengthen cooperation in law enforcement. Addressing the Conference of the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in eastern China last September, Wang said China had trained 2,700 foreign law enforcement officers in 2023 and the number would grow to 3,000 in 2025, with consultants deployed to countries in need. By providing training and police equipment, China could enhance its own security and diplomatic position while avoiding acting as a guarantor, a recent research paper from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank said. According to the paper published in October, China's police training is focused on fostering security relations with places of strategic importance, including Africa and Latin America where China has a large business presence. In an apparent effort to maintain stability at the borders, China has also trained officers in neighbouring countries in recent years. In 2023, a delegation from the Kyrgyzstan interior ministry visited the public security department of Xinjiang, in western China, with the two sides agreeing to strengthen cooperation on border force training. Chinese police forces have also carried out joint patrols with their counterparts from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Still, China's policing diplomacy faces increasing scrutiny. In December 2022, Italy said its police would stop joint patrols with Chinese counterparts in its territory after rights activists claimed Beijing was using 102 Chinese "service stations" to pressure some Chinese expatriates to return to China to face criminal charges. In January last year, Papua New Guinea, a Pacific island country, said it had put China's offer to help its struggling police force on hold after objections from Australia. Two months later, Fiji, another Pacific nation, said it had amended a 2011 policing agreement and removed Chinese officers embedded in its police force. According to Li in Beijing, as power rivalry intensifies, scrutiny from the West will increase, although he said those concerns were overblown. "Policing requires technologies and experience, and this is also what the recipient nations need," Li said. "If the West is not happy with China's offers, they can also offer what they have - and I think that will also be beneficial to local people." This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
South China Morning Post
23-02-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Why China may face ‘scrutiny' over using police diplomacy to help developing world
On Thursday, 200 Chinese nationals rescued from online scam centres in Myanmar were repatriated to China, while hundreds more are expected to arrive in China in the coming days, according to Beijing's Ministry of Public Security. Advertisement The repatriation operation came after a flurry of visits to Thailand and Myanmar by Liu Zhongyi, China's assistant minister for public security. Liu is now coordinating with the two Southeast Asian countries on cyber fraud operations in the region that police and human rights groups have said are involved in human rights abuses and criminal activity. Meanwhile, some 8,000km (4,970 miles) away in the southwestern Pacific, a group of Chinese liaison officers was wrapping up police tactical training for local officers in the Solomon Islands earlier this month. 03:32 'We're not scammers': China, Thailand join forces to free thousands from Myanmar scam hubs 'We're not scammers': China, Thailand join forces to free thousands from Myanmar scam hubs China is expected to increase this type of police diplomacy to expand its influence and protect overseas interests as the world's second largest economy, as well as the second biggest outbound investor and largest source of international tourists. These types of foreign exchanges on law and order may improve China's image as a security partner in developing countries, but it is also coming under increasing international scrutiny, according to a China-based analyst. The Chinese embassy in Honiara, the Solomons' capital, said on social media on February 11 that 30 local officers took part in the training. The topics covered included DNA evidence identification, investigating telecoms fraud, and sexual assault and drug crime prevention, aimed at equipping officers 'with skills and tactics to guide and to strengthen the safety concept and improve their operational capabilities'. Advertisement
Euronews
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
China starts repatriating citizens freed from scam centres in Myanmar
China has started to repatriate hundreds of its citizens who have recently been rescued from scam centres in Myanmar. The first chartered repatriation flight left Thailand on Thursday, with many more expected in the days ahead. The development comes after a collective effort from China, Myanmar and Thailand to shut down the centres near the Thai-Myanmar border, which are said to have been behind a number of scams, including romantic ploys and bogus investment pitches. Criminal gangs are thought to have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people to work at similar sites across Southeast Asia, where they are kept in virtual slavery. Beijing's repatriation of former scam workers follows the visit of a senior Chinese security official to Thailand and Myanmar on Monday. Liu Zhongyi, China's vice minister of public security, visited Tak province in Thailand as well as Myawaddy in Myanmar, where hundreds of scam centre workers are thought to be awaiting repatriation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that his country was engaging in 'bilateral and multilateral cooperation' with Myanmar, Thailand and other countries to tackle the issue. 'This is part of our joint efforts to eradicate the scourge of online gambling and telecom fraud, and to maintain the safety of people's lives and property and the order of exchanges and cooperation among regional countries,' he said. In total, around 7,000 people rescued from scam centres are waiting to be moved to Thailand, according to Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. They will then be repatriated to their countries of origin. Last week, the Thai army said 260 people of 20 different nationalities had been freed from scam compounds in Myanmar before being moved to Thailand. A significant number of them came from China, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines, the army said. Others came from countries such as Brazil, Burundi, Cambodia, Nigeria and India. Earlier this month, Thailand switched off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar as part of a crackdown against the scam networks. The area where the scam centres are located is controlled by the Border Guard Force in Myawaddy, a militia of the Karen ethnic minority. The group has helped to arrange the repatriation of foreign workers from Myanmar. However, critics accuse it of protecting the scam networks, an accusation it denies.
South China Morning Post
20-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Thousands freed as Myanmar scam hubs empty out – but for how long?
Published: 7:24pm, 20 Feb 2025 A blitz on the cyber fraud industry along Myanmar 's border with Thailand has led to the rescue of around 10,000 scam workers, with the first planes carrying Chinese nationals departing on Thursday in a high-profile operation to show that the crime syndicates behind the illegal trade are being dismantled. But questions persist regarding the long-term effectiveness of the crackdown on an illicit industry that generates tens of billions of dollars annually, primarily benefiting alleged Chinese crime bosses – and their apparent protectors in border regions controlled by warlords and ethnic armed militias. The Myawaddy area of Myanmar is one of the world's largest bases for scamming, with dozens of companies staffed by recruits from across the world. Many have been duped by fake job offers which instead resulted in them being forced to commit phone and online fraud, under the threat of torture. Under pressure from China , Thailand had pulled internet links and fuel supplies to the border hubs, while an ethnic armed group – and a powerful border force allied with the Myanmar junta – said they had taken down numerous scam operations over recent weeks. A man escorted by Thai soldiers ahead of flight to China. Photo: Khu Sam China's Public Security Assistant Minister Liu Zhongyi met Thai ministers in Bangkok on Wednesday to help seal the return of the first group of around 600 Chinese nationals.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
Myanmar returns first batch of Chinese scam workers to Thailand
Myanmar on Thursday handed over the first batch of hundreds of Chinese scam centre workers who are set to be repatriated through Thailand in the coming days. Thousands of foreigners are expected to be freed and returned from scam compounds in Myanmar in the coming weeks, starting with 600 Chinese over the next three days. The compounds run by criminal gangs are staffed by foreigners, many of whom say they were trafficked and forced to work running internet scams swindling people around the world. Many of those involved are Chinese and Beijing has stepped up pressure on Myanmar and Thailand to shut the centres down. The Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), a militia allied with the Myanmar junta, has said it is preparing to deport 10,000 people linked to the compounds in areas it controls on the border with Thailand. Two double-decker coaches delivered a first round of returning workers to the border post in the western Thai town of Mae Sot on Thursday morning, AFP journalists at the scene saw. "First group of 50 Chinese have crossed to Thailand and headed to the airport. There will be three more batches (today), each with 50 Chinese," a local border task force official told AFP. China has put on 16 flights over the next three days to ferry 600 of its nationals home direcly from Mae Sot. Chinese security personnel are expected to accompany the returnees on the planes, and it is not clear what fate awaits them back in China. The release follows several visits by China's Public Security Assistant Minister Liu Zhongyi to Bangkok and the border in recent weeks to arrange the repatriation. Scam centres have proliferated across Southeast Asia in recent years, including in Cambodia and the Philippines, as the value of the industry has boomed to billions of dollars a year. Many workers say they were lured or tricked into the centres by promises of high-paying jobs before they were effectively held hostage, their passports taken from them while they were forced to commit online fraud. Many have said they suffered beatings and other abuse at the hands of their supervisors, and AFP has interviewed numerous workers freed from centres with severe bruising and burns. tp-sjc/pdw/rsc
