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China-Asean relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China and Myanmar pledge to fight online scams as Beijing seeks stronger ties with junta

  • Diplomats of the two countries gather for first time in years to discuss border stability and internet fraud
  • Beijing quietly steps up engagement with military rulers in troubled Southeast Asian neighbour, which hosts hundreds of Chinese investment projects

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China and Myanmar share over 2,200km (1,367 miles) of border. Photo: AFP
Laura Zhou
China and Myanmar have pledged to step up the fight against online scams as Beijing pushes for closer ties with the ruling military junta in the troubled Southeast Asian country.
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For the first time in almost four years, diplomats of the two countries gathered on Monday and Tuesday in Beijing, where they “had a frank and in-depth exchange of views” on how to maintain a stable border and safeguard peace in frontier areas, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.
They also “reached important consensus on improving the meeting mechanism, facilitating people-to-people exchanges, and cooperation in combating cross-border internet fraud”.
Myanmar police hand over five telecoms and internet fraud suspects to Chinese police in Yangon, Myanmar on Saturday. Photo: Chinese embassy in Myanmar/Handout via Xinhua
Myanmar police hand over five telecoms and internet fraud suspects to Chinese police in Yangon, Myanmar on Saturday. Photo: Chinese embassy in Myanmar/Handout via Xinhua

Officials from national defence, commerce and immigration authorities as well as local governments also joined the meeting.

According to the readout, the two sides agreed to step up communication and information-sharing to improve cooperation on border affairs.

The two-day meeting was part of a bilateral mechanism under which officials of both sides have met annually since the early 2000s. However, no meeting was held in the previous three years, even via video link.

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The latest meeting was held as Beijing steps up its crackdown on cross-border telecoms fraud, which has triggered nationwide outrage since reports surfaced that Chinese citizens, lured by high pay, had been smuggled into Myanmar and forced to participate in online scams.

Over the past week, at least 24 suspects were repatriated from Myanmar to China as part of the crackdown, which Beijing’s embassy in the country said had “underscored the firm stance of China and Myanmar in combating fraud”.

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