Two suspects of telecom fraud are handed over by Myanmar to the Chinese police at Yangon International Airport and escorted back to China on August 23, 2023. Photo: Chinese Embassy in Myanmar

 

One more place in East China's Fujian Province issued urgent reminders to locals requesting the immediate reporting of family members and important contacts of individuals stranded in the northern region of Myanmar to their respective communities as a local conflict in the northern part of Myanmar intensified. 

The announcement released by a local government in Fujian's Longyan city on Sunday mentioned that there has been intense fighting between the Kokang ethnic army, the Myanmar armed forces, and local armed forces in the surrounding areas of Laukkai, due to the ongoing conflict in Myanmar. 

The critical situation in which Kokang ethnic army are closing in on Laukkai, a township along China-Myanmar border and could result in significant casualties at any time poses a serious threat to the safety of individuals stranded in the northern region of Myanmar, it noted. 

Earlier on Saturday, another local government in Longyan city released similar notices, urging local people stranded in Myanmar to protect themselves and return back to the home country safely.

Recently, Myanmar has become a high-profile country on Chinese social media due to a rising instance of telecom fraud. Earlier on November 15, Luoyang county in Quanzhou of Fujian reported it had rescued a Chinese man surnamed Xie who fell victim to overseas scam and had been allured to Myanmar with the daydream of earning a fortune. 

In 2021, Xie illegally crossed the border to northern Myanmar, however, Xie's dream of getting rich quickly became a nightmare. Xie's daily life was controlled, and Xie was subjected to multiple beatings, and other dangerous situations. At the time of the internal conflict in Myanmar, Xie's life was hanging by a thread. Luoyang county dispatched capable personnel to the border to carry out the rescue operation, successfully bringing Xie back to China.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry told a press briefing on Friday that for some time, China and Myanmar have continued to step up cooperation on combating telecom fraud and other cross-border illegal and criminal activities, which has made meaningful progress. 

A number of telecom fraud suspects have been turned over to Chinese authorities. The Chinese side will continue to work with relevant parties to crack down on telecom fraud and other cross-border illegal and criminal activities and uphold the order and tranquility of the China-Myanmar border areas, Mao noted. 

Global Times