Philippine media reported that 240 arrested Chinese suspects involved in gambling and fraud were deported from Cambodia, with an additional 500 expected to be deported. China has intensified its efforts over the years to combat organized crime among Southeast Asian Chinese communities.
The arrested individuals were part of the second group of evacuees repatriated from Cambodia by a chartered Chinese flight. In April this year, China for the first time chartered a flight to repatriate over 680 people from Cambodia.
To curb cross-border online gambling and fraud through telecommunication networks, China has cooperated with neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines, arresting Chinese criminal suspects and deporting them back to China.
This expulsion action took place a week after China and Myanmar dismantled a large telecommunication fraud center in northern Myanmar. Since the launch of the anti-telecommunication fraud campaign last year, the two countries have arrested over 53,000 Chinese citizens.
In September this year, China and Cambodia strengthened their anti-gambling and anti-fraud cooperation, signing an agreement to enhance law enforcement cooperation and combat organized crime among Chinese in Cambodia.
In 2019, Cambodia banned online gambling, specifically targeting gambling activities operated by Chinese in the southern coastal city of Sihanoukville.
China Central Television stated: "The public security organs will continue to deepen law enforcement cooperation with relevant countries and regions, carry out targeted crackdowns, resolutely dismantle gambling and fraud dens involving Chinese, and firmly curb the high incidence of such crimes."
China has also repatriated thousands of suspects through the global secret "Operation Fox Hunt" launched ten years ago to combat corruption and economic crimes, recovering billions of dollars in assets.
