China Pushes Myanmar to Crack Down on Scam Operations

By Lauren Ho

Over the past few months, Myanmar’s escalating domestic conflict has coincided with a growth in cyber-scam activity. At the center of these scams is KK Park, a compound notorious as hub for cyber scams involving both Myanmar citizens and the Chinese mafia. China has found itself becoming increasingly involved in Myanmar’s unrest, leveraging its position in the conflict to protect and promote its interests by promoting junta control. Now, this past week the junta has reasserted its power and targeted KK Park, arresting more than 2,000 people and releasing others, as well as seizing 30 Starlink satellites. The rise and recent crackdown of this criminal network highlights the cross-border dimensions of Myanmar’s instability and how criminal activity influences geopolitics. Despite the Chinese mafia’s involvement, Beijing has publicly criticized Myanmar’s tolerance of these cybercrime zones and has called for further crackdown across the country.