China Can’t Keep Its Hands Clean in Myanmar’s Scam Cities

Ties between organized crime syndicates and Chinese intelligence run deep.

A sign warning against illegal work online is pictured in Thailand's Mae Sot district in Tak province near the Myanmar border on February 11. October 23, 2025, 7:30 AM Comment icon View Comments ( )

This summer, I stood at the Thailand-Myanmar border, looking across the Moei River, at a new city in Myanmar recently constructed on land that just a few years ago was nothing but paddy fields, jungle, and tiny rural villages.

Straight in front of me was an archway with the words “China View” and an illustration of the Great Wall of China. And on the other side of the river in Myanmar was Shwe Kokko , a den of transnational organized crime, drugs,

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