September 16 ( China Daily): Telecom and cyber fraud is a universal problem that affects both China and the United States, prompting both nations to cooperate in law enforcement efforts to stamp out this menace. In May, police from China, the US and the United Arab Emirates conducted joint operations in Dubai to combat such crimes.

However, while countries are united in cracking down on cyber fraud, a subtle campaign to smear China is taking shape in some Western countries.

In recent years, several non-governmental organizations and think tanks, including the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, Humanity Research Consultancy, Amnesty International, the US Institute of Peace, the Royal United Services Institute, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and news agencies such as the Associated Press and Reuters, have released reports that portray China as the "source of telecom and cyber fraud".

By repeatedly emphasizing "China" and "Chinese", these reports risk encouraging the public to associate China with telecom and cyber fraud, thereby shaping a narrative that presents China as a source of such crimes.

For instance, Amnesty International's 2025 report "Cambodia: 'I Was Someone Else's Property': slavery, human trafficking and torture in Cambodia's scamming compounds" mentions "China" more than 50 times and "Chinese" over 70 times, creating a skewed impression of the nature and origins of the problem.

These reports frequently pair words like criminals and criminal networks with "Chinese" in ways that can lead readers to associate criminal activity with China as a country or with Chinese people generally.

Such narratives have absolutely no logic or factual basis. For instance, the Royal United Services Institute's 2024 report "Trafficking into Forced Criminality: the Rise of Scam Centres in Southeast Asia" claims that Beijing's strict anti-gambling policies since 1949 led to the proliferation of gambling venues in Southeast Asia and gave rise to telecom and cyber fraud. This victim-blaming logic is ridiculously flawed.

Some have even disparaged China's efforts to combat fraud. In a 2023 report, the Associated Press claimed that China cracked down on cyber scams in Southeast Asia but did not dismantle the core criminal networks.

Contrary to such claims, China has effectively dismantled major scam operations along the Myanmar border, eliminated four major criminal syndicates in Kokang, northern Myanmar, and extradited or repatriated key figures such as She Zhijiang, Chen Zhi, Li Xiong and Liu Ren to China to face legal consequences.

In March, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission released a report titled "Protecting Americans from China-Linked Scam Centers: An Update on Emerging Trends" that accused China of selectively targeting scam centers in Southeast Asia for political purposes and failing to curb the growth of the scam industry in the region.

The report overlooked China's extensive cooperation in law enforcement with over 30 countries, including the US, Spain, the UAE, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Such reports also portray Washington's role in disproportionately favorable terms, presenting it as a leading force in the global fight against fraud.

In the case of Chen Zhi, the US government was credited with "exposing the truth", overlooking years of investigative work by Chinese police and international collaboration.

Another aim of such distorted narratives is to justify sanctions imposed by the US. In US policy, fraud is linked to transnational organized crime, human trafficking, forced labor, money laundering, cryptocurrency crime, cybercrime, and national security.

This allows Washington to use measures such as sanctions, asset freezes, and criminal law enforcement — originally intended to protect its citizens' property and financial interests — in humanitarian and international security contexts.

Such framing can recast unilateral actions as "just" efforts to protect victims, combat transnational crime, and uphold the international order, while presenting sanctions and extraterritorial enforcement as components of a global anti-fraud campaign.

Telecom and cyber fraud are transnational crimes spawned by the disorderly flow of people, capital and technology in a globalized world. The international community should collectively address these issues.

Yet some from the West have framed the issue in ways that stigmatize China, downplay its contributions and serve broader geopolitical narratives.

China, a major victim of telecom and cyber fraud, has not only strictly cracked down on such crimes domestically but also expanded multilateral cooperation to address regional governance gaps.

On Sept 10, China initiated an international alliance for combating cross-border telecom and cyber fraud, with 46 founding members and 34 observer countries.

This alliance aims to tackle telecom and cyber fraud and related crimes and protect the rights and interests of citizens and organizations worldwide, in accordance with international conventions.

China's actions demonstrate that combating crime requires equal and sustained collaboration among nations, not unilateral jurisdiction or control over the international narrative by any single country.

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