China has executed 11 individuals connected to large-scale telecom scam operations, state media reported on Thursday, signalling a tougher stance by Beijing against the vast and increasingly global fraud industry.
Across Southeast Asia, especially in the poorly governed border areas of Myanmar, fraud compounds have multiplied, where scammers lure internet users into fake romantic relationships and fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes.
While these networks initially focused on Chinese-speaking victims, they have since expanded into multiple languages, targeting people across different regions of the world.
Those involved in the operations are sometimes willing participants, but in many cases are trafficked foreign nationals forced to carry out scams under coercion.
In recent years, Chinese authorities have intensified cooperation with governments across the region to dismantle these networks, resulting in the repatriation of thousands of suspects who are then prosecuted within China’s largely opaque legal system.
According to state news agency Xinhua, the 11 people executed on Thursday had been sentenced to death in September by a court in Wenzhou, an eastern Chinese city. The report confirmed that the court carried out the executions after the sentences were approved.
Xinhua said the crimes committed by those executed included “intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud, and casino establishment”.
The Supreme People’s Court in Beijing approved the death sentences, ruling that evidence of criminal activities dating back to 2015 was “conclusive and sufficient”.
Among those executed were “key members” of the infamous “Ming family criminal group”, whose operations were linked to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to “many others”, according to the report.
Fraud networks operating from Myanmar’s border regions are believed to have siphoned billions of dollars globally through phone and online scams, with experts saying many of the centres are controlled by Chinese-led criminal syndicates working alongside Myanmar militias.
Both the fraud itself and China’s aggressive response have drawn widespread attention domestically.
Reacting to the executions, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said Beijing has long worked with Myanmar and other nations to curb cross-border telecom and internet fraud.
“For a while, China has worked with Myanmar and other countries to combat cross-border telecom and internet fraud,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing, adding that China would continue international cooperation against “the cancer of gambling and fraud”.
The September court rulings that led to Thursday’s executions also imposed suspended death sentences on five other individuals, granting them two-year reprieves.
Another 23 suspects received prison terms ranging from five years to life imprisonment.
In November, five people were also sentenced to death for their roles in scam operations in Myanmar’s Kokang region, with state media reporting that their actions resulted in the deaths of six Chinese nationals.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warned in April that the cyberscam industry is spreading rapidly across the globe, including into South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and parts of the Pacific.
The UN estimates that hundreds of thousands of people are currently working in scam centres worldwide.
What you should know
China’s executions highlight its hardline approach to combating telecom and internet fraud, particularly scams operating from Southeast Asia.
These criminal networks, often based in Myanmar’s border regions, have grown into a global industry worth billions of dollars, targeting victims worldwide. Beijing views the scams as a serious national and international security threat and has increased cooperation with neighbouring countries to dismantle them.
However, human rights groups continue to raise concerns about transparency within China’s justice system and the use of the death penalty, even as global institutions warn that the scam industry is expanding rather than shrinking.
