Published: 01:23 PM, 18 November 2025
China’s Influence Exposed as Myanmar Targets Fraud Stronghold
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The recent U.S. sanctions against the Prince Group and its chairman, Chen Zhi, have triggered a dramatic chain of events in Southeast Asia, culminating in Myanmar’s military launching raids on KK Park, a notorious scam compound in Myawaddy. While the world watches the chaos unfold, a deeper, more sinister narrative emerges: the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its state apparatus have long nurtured and protected the very networks now under fire. The Prince Group saga is not merely a tale of cybercrime and human trafficking, it is a window into how Beijing’s covert influence has enabled transnational criminal enterprises to flourish under the guise of economic development and regional diplomacy.
On October 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi, the flamboyant chairman of the Prince Group, accusing him of orchestrating a vast criminal network involving forced labour, human trafficking, and cryptocurrency fraud. The indictment revealed that Chen controlled over $15 billion in illicit Bitcoin assets and operated scam compounds across Cambodia and Myanmar, where trafficked workers were forced to run online fraud operations targeting victims worldwide.
Chen’s rise was meteoric. Originally from Fujian, China, he acquired Cambodian citizenship and was even granted the aristocratic title of “Duke.” His conglomerate, the Prince Group, became a dominant force in Cambodia’s real estate and finance sectors. But behind the glitzy façade lay a brutal system of exploitation, enabled by high-level political protection.
According to multiple corroborated reports from reputable sources, Chen’s operations were not rogue endeavours. They were allegedly backed by China’s Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security, two of the most powerful arms of the CCP. These agencies provided cover and logistical support, allowing Chen to expand his operations with impunity.
Further reports suggest that Chen is related by marriage to Huang Kunming, the Party Secretary of Guangdong province and a key figure in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s inner circle. Allegations also link Chen to the “Fujian faction” within Zhongnanhai, the CCP’s central power base, where he is believed to have laundered money for elite families, including Xi’s own. This web of connections raises troubling questions: Was the CCP merely turning a blind eye to Chen’s crimes, or was it actively complicit? The evidence increasingly points to the latter.
The KK Park compound in Myawaddy, Myanmar, became ground zero for this unfolding drama. Long known as a hub for cybercrime and human trafficking, KK Park operated with impunity until the U.S. sanctions hit. Within days, the Myanmar military launched a relentless crackdown against the compound, levelling buildings and forcing over 2,000 people mostly Chinese and other neighbouring nationals to flee across the border into Thailand.
The timing was no coincidence. The Myanmar junta, under pressure from international scrutiny and perhaps seeking to carry favour with Washington, moved swiftly to dismantle the scam networks. Thai authorities, meanwhile, intercepted a truck carrying 60 Starlink satellite devices en route to Myawaddy, likely intended to support the scam operations. The crackdown was sudden, brutal, and effective, something years of Chinese diplomatic “warnings” had failed to achieve.
China’s response to the U.S. sanctions and subsequent crackdowns has been conspicuously muted. There have been no strong condemnations, no offers of humanitarian aid for the fleeing Chinese nationals, and no public disavowal of Chen Zhi. This silence speaks volumes.
For years, Beijing has promoted its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a benevolent force for regional development. Yet in Cambodia and Myanmar, BRI-linked investments have often served as fronts for illicit activities, from illegal casinos to scam compounds. The Prince Group was a poster child of this model lavishly funded, politically protected, and deeply embedded in local economies.
The U.S. action against Chen Zhi may mark a turning point in the fight against transnational cybercrime. But it also exposes the limits of China’s soft power and the dangers of its opaque political economy. While Washington’s sanctions achieved in days what Beijing failed to do in years, the question remains: will the CCP now distance itself from its criminal proxies, or simply find new ones?
Some Chinese netizens have already drawn their own conclusions. “After years of taking Chinese medicine with no effect, one shot of Western medicine cured it,” one user quipped online. Others were more direct: “It’s not that the CCP couldn’t handle Myawaddy. It’s that the CCP itself is the instigator and the force behind it.”
The Prince Group scandal is more than a regional crime story, it is a geopolitical parable. It reveals how authoritarian regimes can weaponize corruption, exploitation, and digital fraud to project influence and accumulate wealth. It also shows the power of targeted international action to disrupt these networks.
As the dust settles over KK Park and scam centre refugees stream into Thailand, the world must ask: how many more “Prince Groups” are operating under Beijing’s shadow? And how long will the international community tolerate a global scam empire built on the suffering of the voiceless? (By, Sun Lee)
>> Source: mizzima
