China, Myanmar vow to crack down on telecom fraud

China and Myanmar on Wednesday pledged more efforts to crack down on telecom fraud as the countries' foreign ministers met in Beijing.

During a meeting with U Than Swe, who is Myanmar's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the two countries should strengthen law enforcement and security cooperation to eradicate the cancer of online gambling and cyber scams.

Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China and Myanmar have recently cooperated to combat telecom fraud and rescue victims trapped in northern Myanmar, achieving effective results and helping deter further crimes.

As of the end of November, a total of 31,000 suspects had been transferred from Myanmar to Chinese custody in a crackdown on telecom fraud originating from northern Myanmar and affecting Chinese citizens, according to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

During Wednesday's talks, Than Swe said Myanmar will resolutely crack down on cross-border illegal and criminal activities such as telecom fraud and carry out comprehensive coordination and cooperation with China in this regard.