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.
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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.
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‘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”.
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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.