Malaysia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Hasan delivers his speech during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Malaysia's Langkawi Island on January 19, 2025. Photo: VCG
Southeast Asian foreign ministers gathered Sunday for their first meeting this year under the regional bloc's new chair, Malaysia. At the meeting, the bloc discussed transnational crimes including online scam syndicates, and called for closer cooperation with China to combat the issue, according to media reports.
The theme of this year's meeting was "Secure, Innovative, Inclusive: Shaping ASEAN's Digital Future," a reflection of ASEAN's commitment to building a safe digital environment. This includes responding promptly to online threats and cybercrime, developing new innovations and technology and ensuring equal access to technology, Bankok Post reported on Saturday.
At the meeting, foreign ministers of ASEAN discussed the recent hotspot issue of online scams. At an interview following the meeting on Sunday, Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said "(there are) now scams and other crimes will take advantage of interconnected digital economies. And again, this illustrates, just as it is in the case of drug trafficking, the need for a collective approach."
Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra also emphasized the need for regional cooperation to combat online scams, address fake news and promote responsible AI use at the 5th ASEAN Digital Minister's Meeting in Bangkok, according to the Pattaya Mail on Saturday.
According to the Bangkok Post, Myanmar has pledged to collaborate with Thailand in combating transnational call center gangs, according to Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong. Participants at the 5th ASEAN Digital Ministers' Meeting in Bangkok agreed that online fraud and call center gangs are urgent problems and require a concerted effort to tackle, he said.
The DES Ministry has made agreements with several countries to address the problems, but these pacts provide only a framework and need concrete measures for effective enforcement, he added, the Bangkok Post reported on Saturday.
"Effective institutional arrangements and cooperative frameworks are essential for cross-border collaboration, particularly at the regional level within ASEAN," Peng Nian, director of the Hong Kong Research Center for Asian Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Peng pointed out that if ASEAN countries establish an internal mechanism to combat cross-border crime, China could directly engage with this regional framework, avoiding the need for individual coordination with each country, thereby reducing time and risks while enhancing the effectiveness of cross-border crime prevention.
As ASEAN chair, Malaysia has proposed cooperating with China, which could play a role in promoting and implementing collaborative efforts, Peng said.
Cross-border law enforcement faces challenges such as differences in legal systems, insufficient responsibility sharing, and issues of illegal movement, resulting in complex coordination and low efficiency, Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute of Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
If ASEAN can establish strict institutional arrangements and promote a regional mechanism for combating cross-border crime, cooperation with China will become more efficient, Gu said.
Member states need to actively take responsibility, strengthen border management and build a more coordinated legal enforcement system, which will significantly enhance the effectiveness of cross-border law enforcement collaboration, he added.
The ministerial meeting also discussed various frameworks for cooperation including cybersecurity, cross-border data exchange and joint development of the digital economy.
On Thursday during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's meeting with diplomatic envoys from 10 ASEAN countries in Beijing, Wang said China stands ready to work with ASEAN countries to crack down on cross-border online gambling and telecom fraud.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the recent vicious cases of online gambling and telecom fraud along the Thailand-Myanmar border have threatened and harmed the vital interests of citizens of China and other countries, a situation that demands a great deal of attention.
Wang said it is hoped that the relevant countries will take responsibility and strong measures to resolutely crack down on these crimes, safeguard people's safety and property, and never allow criminals to evade punishment.
China is willing to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on law enforcement and security with ASEAN countries to provide a safe environment for people-to-people exchanges and sound order of cooperation among neighboring countries, Wang said.