According to official media on Thursday, the home minister of the Myanmar junta has traveled for China to hold security discussions with the public security minister in Beijing.
According to the Global New Light of Myanmar, Lieutenant-General Yar Pyae accepted Wang Xiaohong’s invitation and departed for China on Wednesday for a “working visit to discuss law enforcement and security cooperation from 24 to 29 April.”
The junta’s relations with Beijing, a significant ally and arms supplier, have deteriorated recently due to the growth of internet scam compounds in Myanmar’s border regions; however, it did not provide any other details.
Workers in the compounds are nationals of China and other nations who are frequently trafficked and made to work defrauding their own people.
Analysts estimate that the sector concentrated in northern Shan state is worth billions of dollars annually, and China has frequently ordered Myanmar’s military to crack down on it.
An analysis of the junta’s inaction last year revealed that China’s covert support for ethnic armed groups’ lightning onslaught, which resulted in the seizure of territory and profitable border crossings, was evident.
Tens of thousands, including numerous well-known scam lords, have subsequently been detained and deported to China as a result of a coordinated crackdown by China and the junta.
However, the “vast majority” of the syndicates have moved to Karen State on the Thai border, where they are being housed by local armed groups, according to a report released this week by the US Institute of Peace.
Analysts claim that the gangs based in and around the border town of Myawaddy have the capacity to mobilize thousands of militants.
