China’s support for Myanmar regime backfires; scam syndicates thrive

FILE - Chinese actor Wang Xing, third from left, shakes hands with a Thai police officer following his return after being kidnapped into a Myanmar telecom fraud center, at a police station in the Mae Sot district, Thailand, on Jan. 7, 2025. (Royal Thai Police via Reuters) FILE - Myanmar police hand over five telecom and internet fraud suspects to Chinese police at Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar, on Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua News Agency via AP)

Reports of Chinese citizens trafficked into scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border are prompting renewed questions about Beijing’s reliance on Myanmar’s military regime to tackle transnational crime.