China and Myanmar junta deepen alliance to suppress dissent under guise of combating telecom fraud, entrenching regional authoritarian networks
Original framing: “China backs Myanmar’s push to ease diplomatic isolation, stamp out telecoms scams” — South China Morning Post
Ethnic minority women’s groups in Myanmar report that ‘telecom scam’ allegations are disproportionately used to arrest and torture Kachin and Shan women, often in brothels or labor camps. Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh describe how China’s veto at the UN enables junta impunity for genocide. Burmese diaspora activists in Thailand and Malaysia face digital surveillance and threats from junta-linked proxies. The junta’s propaganda machine labels all critics as ‘terrorists,’ erasing the diversity of resistance movements.
The China-Myanmar alliance exemplifies how authoritarian regimes instrumentalize ‘security’ and ‘anti-fraud’ rhetoric to entrench power, with Myanmar’s junta serving as a proxy enforcer for Beijing’s regional interests.
This dynamic is not new but a revival of Cold War-era patterns, where economic leverage and military support enable repression under the guise of stability. Indigenous communities bear the brunt of this collusion, their lands and lives sacrificed for the junta’s survival and China’s strategic depth. The solution lies in disrupting this cycle through truth-telling, decentralized technology, and targeted pressure on elites—not broad sanctions that harm civilians. The trickster’s role is to expose the absurdity of framing state violence as crime prevention, while marginalized voices (Karen, Kachin, Rohingya, diaspora activists) must lead the charge. Without addressing the structural complicity between Beijing and Naypyidaw, ‘anti-fraud’ campaigns will continue to be a euphemism for ethnic cleansing and digital authoritarianism.