Through training held in Phnom Penh, UNODC is helping to build a more robust response to cybercrime in Cambodia.
All the screens in the room, including the one projected on the wall, have turned black, and a series of green letters have started to rain down. “Your wallet has been stolen,” one of the trainers says. All participants —some in uniform, others in suits— start scrolling down, looking for the fictitious cybercriminal.
The mix of Cambodian cybercops, law enforcement officials and judges in the room each have a laptop, and each have a task at hand: to seize the cryptocurrencies before it’s too late. If they collect and manage the digital evidence, they have succeeded, because that evidence can be later presented to the court. On their screens, what they are seeing is a simulation of a cyber-enabled fraud case involving cryptocurrencies in which criminals operate nowadays.
mekongeye.com Produced in partnership with the Putlizer Center
Long-term intensive chemical use in Laos’ banana farms has degraded the country’s once-fertile soil, and it may take nearly half a century to restore it.
Laos’ fertile soil and its proximity to China have created ideal conditions for banana cultivation to meet the surging demand from Chinese consumers.
This fruit frenzy has attracted Chinese companies to seek farmland in Laos, a landlocked country that has embraced a “green agriculture” approach to combat poverty.
With government approval, the sector has expanded, offering jobs, infrastructure development, and revenue from land once considered undervalued.
However, an investigation by Mekong Eye and the Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) reveals that the fruit plantation boom has left a legacy of soil degradation and uncertain livelihoods for many local farmers.
OUDOMXAY & BOKEO, LAOS – Northern Laos is experiencing soil degradation after years of monocropping and widespread chemical use on banana farms operated by Chinese entrepreneurs.
Thiep doesn’t remember the name of the Chinese fruit company that leased his family’s land, only that it was one of the first to arrive in his northern Lao village in 2007.
After a decade of monocropping bananas, the company left and then returned the land to his family. But in the interim, the earth had changed in ways Thiep and his household couldn’t have anticipated.
“The soil is unusually hard and dry, not like it used to be. We had to replace the plow with a stronger one just to break the ground,” Thiep recalled.
His family members invested extra effort into its first rice crop after reclaiming the plotland. That year, they enjoyed a bumper harvest that was more than they had before the arrival of the Chinese company. But it was the last time they saw such abundance.
“The yield kept decreasing after that,” Thiep said, planting seedlings in the flooded paddy. “Before we leased it out, this plot produced 60 bags of rice. Now it’s down to 30, not enough for the family to eat.”
Nearly two decades ago, Chinese entrepreneurs, attracted by geographic proximity, blanketed northern Laos with banana plantations.
Exporting bananas to China quickly became an economic mainstay, replacing the long reliance on subsistence rice farming. The plantations not only created local jobs but also increased income for households leasing their land to companies.
But investment capital is bittersweet: it may have provided the region with a ladder out of the depths of poverty, but it has ushered in new perils.
Some local workers have reportedly fallen ill or died after pesticide spraying on farms.
Young Hmong workers rest after long hours of labor on a banana plantation in Oudomxay province, northern Laos. Many, including children under 15, face direct exposure to hazardous agricultural chemicals used in the plantations.
A 2017 study, conducted with the Lao government’s involvement, found that agricultural chemicals – used intensively and without consistent management on banana plantations – had poisoned rivers and soil, and harmed the health of residents and plantation workers.
Among the chemicals identified were paraquat – a highly toxic herbicide banned in several countries, including Laos and China – and chlorothalonil, a hazardous substance banned in the EU in 2020 due to its potential to pollute groundwater and cause cancer.
Facing the issue, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce verbally stated in early 2017 that the Prime Minister’s Office had ordered a ban on all commercial banana cultivation, according to the Laos News Agency. However, our reporter was unable to find any official orders on public platforms dating back to 2016.
Massive glacial bursts are becoming more frequent and more dangerous due to the climate crisis, experts tell Mukesh Pokhrel, warning: ‘They are not going to stop anytime soon’
Wednesday 16 July 2025 12:25 BST
Up until a disastrous day earlier this month, more than 150 trucks crossed daily over a border bridge between Nepal and China. Known by locals as the Miteri Pul (Friendship Bridge), the Rasuwagadhi crossing served as the main trade route between the two countries, with over $50m of goods passing over it last year alone.
But on the 8 July, floodwaters tore through northern Nepal’s Rasuwa district, sweeping away parts of this critical border highway. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority, seven people lost their lives, and 20 were missing, including six Chinese nationals.
The Chinese nationals were working on a 200 megawatt hydro project in the Tirsuli River, which was also damaged by the floods. Initial estimates suggest Nepal has sustained losses of over $100m in the incident as a whole.
Below, we show the share of Iran’s oil exports by destination.
Country
Share of Iran’s Crude Oil Exports
🇨🇳 China
89%
🇸🇾 Syria
6%
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
3%
🇻🇪 Venezuela
2%
In 2023, a staggering 89% of Iran’s oil exports went to China, a sharp rise from just 25% in 2017.
This surge followed renewed U.S. sanctions in 2018, which isolated Iran from most global oil buyers.
Iran is among the world’s largest oil producers, and in recent years, China has become its most critical customer both economically and geopolitically.
As hostilities in the region intensify–marked by U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear infrastructure and Iranian missile strikes on American bases in Qatar and Iraq—China’s access to Iranian oil is increasingly at risk.
This is because the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for China’s oil imports, could be disrupted by further conflict or Iranian retaliation.
While Iran supplies only about 13% of China’s total oil imports, the relationship is strategically important, offering China discounted crude and reinforcing its broader regional influence amid Western pressure.
(VNF) – Trong những năm gần đây, các hoạt động lừa đảo xuyên biên giới tại khu vực Đông Nam Á đã gia tăng mạnh mẽ, đặc biệt là những tổ chức lừa đảo có sự tham gia của các nhóm tội phạm Trung Quốc. Những tổ chức này không chỉ gây thiệt hại tài chính mà còn ảnh hưởng nghiêm trọng đến an ninh và trật tự xã hội của các quốc gia trong khu vực.
Các chiến dịch quốc tế nhằm đối phó với tình trạng này, bao gồm việc hồi hương hàng chục nghìn tội phạm lừa đảo về Trung Quốc, đã cho thấy sự tham gia của tội phạm nước này trong các vụ lừa đảo tại Đông Nam Á là rất lớn.
Theo một báo cáo mới đây của Trung tâm nghiên cứu chiến lược và quốc tế (CSIS, Mỹ), những hang ổ lừa đảo cắm rễ sau sự xuống dốc của lĩnh vực kinh doanh cờ bạc tại Đông Nam Á và gắn liền với các băng nhóm tội phạm người Trung Quốc.
Sau phong tỏa trong đại dịch Covid-19, nhiều khu casino và khách sạn bỏ trống đã biến thành các trung tâm lừa đảo qua mạng, nơi các nạn nhân buôn người bị chúng dụ dỗ và cưỡng ép đã lừa hàng tỷ USD từ nhiều người.
Các nghi phạm bị dẫn giải từ Myanmar về Trung Quốc tại cửa khẩu Mạnh Liên ở Vân Nam (Ảnh: XINHUA)
There is a human trafficking crisis in Southeast Asia. The UN estimates that 120,000 people have been trafficked to scam centres in Myanmar and another 100,000 in Cambodia. Many of them are brought through the border with Thailand. The victims are often forced to work as scammers, defrauding billions of dollars from unsuspecting targets across the world. These scam syndicates have been linked to the Chinese mafia as well as local rebels in Myanmar.
How do these scam centres operate? Who are the trafficking victims and how did they end up in this predicament? How is Thailand’s economy suffering from these trafficking networks, and what is being done to stamp them out? Insight investigates.
Item 1 of 4 United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldiers march during a media display in Pansang, Wa territory in northeast Myanmar, October 4, 2016. Picture taken on October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo
[1/4]United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldiers march during a media display in Pansang, Wa territory in northeast Myanmar, October 4, 2016. Picture taken on October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Summary
Beijing-backed UWSA protecting new rare earth mines in Shan state, sources say
Mines being run by Chinese-speaking operators
China relies on Myanmar for rare earth imports but had recently faced some supply challenges
Rare earths offer Beijing leverage in trade war with Washington
BANGKOK, June 12 (Reuters) – A Chinese-backed militia is protecting new rare earth mines in eastern Myanmar, according to four people familiar with the matter, as Beijing moves to secure control of the minerals it is wielding as a bargaining chip in its trade war with Washington.
China has a near-monopoly over the processing of heavy rare earths into magnets that power critical goods like wind turbines, medical devices and electric vehicles. But Beijing is heavily reliant on Myanmar for the rare earth metals and oxides needed to produce them: the war-torn country was the source of nearly half those imports in the first four months of this year, Chinese customs data show.
Indonesia received the most funding from China over the last decade, according to a new report by Zero Carbon Analytics. But uncertainties caused by US-driven tariff plans could see Southeast Asian countries retract green investments, said an analyst.
China’s PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited constructed the Cirata floating solar plant in West Java, Indonesia. Image: PLN Nusantara
China is the leading source of public clean energy investments in Southeast Asia over the last decade, channeling over US$ 2.7 billion into projects across the region, according to a report by international research organisation Zero Carbon Analytics.
China has set its sights on the Global South, and on ASEAN – the Association of Southeast Asia Nations – one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
ASEAN’s fastest growing economy is now facing serious headwinds from Trump tariffs. As Vietnam sent a team to Washington to negotiate, China stepped up its diplomatic efforts here. Trade and investment between the 2 countries had been steadily growing despite differences in the South China Sea. Is this a new chapter in complex Vietnam-China relations? Tiếp tục đọc “Will Vietnam deepen ties with China because of Trump tariffs?”→
Tibetan spiritual leader says in a new book that his people’s aspiration for freedom cannot be indefinitely delayed.
The Dalai Lama offers blessings to his followers at his Himalayan residence in the northern hill town of Dharamshala, India, on December 20, 2024 [Priyanshu Singh/Reuters]
Published On 11 Mar 202511 Mar 2025
The Dalai Lama has said that his successor will be born in the “free world” outside of China.
In a new book released on Tuesday, the 89-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism says that he will be reincarnated outside of Tibet, which is an autonomous region of China.
“Since the purpose of a reincarnation is to carry on the work of the predecessor, the new Dalai Lama will be born in the free world so that the traditional mission of the Dalai Lama – that is, to be the voice for universal compassion, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and the symbol of Tibet embodying the aspirations of the Tibetan people – will continue,” the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet for India in 1959, writes in Voice for the Voiceless.
China considers Tibet, which has alternated between independence and Chinese control over the centuries, as an integral part of the country and views movements advocating greater autonomy or independence as threats to its national sovereignty.
Beijing has labelled the current Dalai Lama, who was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor at two years old, a “separatist” and insisted on the right to appoint his successor after his death.
The Dalai Lama, who stepped down as the political leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile in 2011 to focus on his spiritual role, has denied advocating Tibetan independence and argued for a “Middle Way” approach, which would grant the mainly Buddhist territory greater autonomy.
In his book, the Dalai Lama writes that he has received numerous petitions from people in and outside Tibet asking him to ensure that his lineage continues, and says that Tibetan people’s aspirations for freedom cannot be denied indefinitely.
“One clear lesson we know from history is this: If you keep people permanently unhappy, you cannot have a stable society,” he writes.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP): Cambodia and China have signed a US$1.2 billion deal to finance an ambitious canal project that aims to boost trade efficiency by linking a branch of the Mekong River near Phnom Penh to a port on the Gulf of Thailand, the Cambodian government agency heading the project has announced,
The deal to fund the Funan Techo Canal was signed Thursday during the state visit to Cambodia of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the agency said in a news release. Xi returned home Friday after a three-nation Southeast Asian tour that also included Vietnam and Malaysia.
Author Mehebub SahanaLeverhulme Early Career Fellow, Geography, University of Manchester
China recently approved the construction of the world’s largest hydropower dam, across the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet. When fully up and running, it will be the world’s largest power plant – by some distance.
Yet many are worried the dam will displace local people and cause huge environmental disruption. This is particularly the case in the downstream nations of India and Bangladesh, where that same river is known as the Brahmaputra.
The proposed dam highlights some of the geopolitical issues raised by rivers that cross international borders. Who owns the river itself, and who has the right to use its water? Do countries have obligations not to pollute shared rivers, or to keep their shipping lanes open? And when a drop of rain falls on a mountain, do farmers in a different country thousands of miles downstream have a claim to use it? Ultimately, we still don’t know enough about these questions of river rights and ownership to settle disputes easily.
The Yarlung Tsangpo begins on the Tibetan Plateau, in a region sometimes referred to as the world’s third pole as its glaciers contain the largest stores of ice outside of the Arctic and Antarctica. A series of huge rivers tumble down from the plateau and spread across south and south-east Asia. Well over a billion people depend on them, from Pakistan to Vietnam.
Tổng Bí thư, Chủ tịch nước Trung Quốc Tập Cận Bình thăm cấp Nhà nước tới Việt Nam từ ngày 14/4
11/04/2025 | 09:22
TPO – Nhận lời mời của Tổng Bí thư Tô Lâm, Chủ tịch nước Lương Cường, Tổng Bí thư, Chủ tịch nước Trung Quốc Tập Cận Bình sẽ thăm cấp Nhà nước tới Việt Nam từ ngày 14 đến 15/4, Bộ Ngoại giao thông báo.
Chuyến thăm diễn ra vào thời điểm Việt Nam và Trung Quốc kỷ niệm 75 năm thiết lập quan hệ ngoại giao (18/1/1950 – 18/1/2025).
Trung Quốc hôm nay cho biết nước này sẵn sàng đàm phán với Mỹ, nhưng cũng không sợ hãi nếu Mỹ tiếp tục đe dọa áp thuế.
Cờ Mỹ và Trung Quốc. Ảnh: Reuters
Ngày 10/4, khi được hỏi về việc liệu Mỹ và Trung Quốc đã bắt đầu đàm phán thuế nhập khẩu hay chưa, người phát ngôn Bộ Thương mại Trung Quốc He Yongqian cho biết nước này sẵn sàng đàm phán với Mỹ, nhưng phải trên cơ sở bình đẳng và tôn trọng lẫn nhau. Ông khẳng định “việc gây sức ép, đe dọa, bắt nạt” không phải là cách hành xử đúng với Trung Quốc.
![The Dalai Lama offers blessings to his followers at his Himalayan residence in the northern hill town of Dharamshala, India, on December 20, 2024 [Priyanshu Singh/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-03-11T023323Z_218289473_RC2RSBA1K164_RTRMADP_3_INDIA-DALAI-LAMA-CHINA-1-1741677530.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Cờ Mỹ và Trung Quốc. Ảnh: Reuters
CVD 