China passes new law to tackle growing telecoms and online fraud
- Suspects can be chased across border under new law passed by China’s top legislative body, with telecoms firms and banks duty bound to help find scammers
- Focus on cross-border cooperation as tough law enforcement in China sees fraudsters set up base in neighbouring countries
The law will be applicable both within and outside Chinese territory, according to state news agency Xinhua.
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“Overseas organisations or individuals who conduct telecommunication network fraud activities … may be dealt with and held accountable in accordance with the relevant provisions of this law,” the law says.
The Chinese foreign and public security ministries must also engage more closely with international law enforcement agencies to crack down on such crimes, including the establishment of a “rapid working liaison mechanism”, the law stipulates.
In wrapping up its latest session which began on Tuesday, the NPC Standing Committee also approved the appointment of Ying Yong, 64, as the country’s first-ranking deputy prosecutor, confirming an earlier report by the South China Morning Post.
His stint as the deputy procurator-general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the top national prosecution agency, will pave the way for Ying to be endorsed as the country’s next top prosecutor at the NPC’s annual meeting next March. Ying is a loyalist of President Xi Jinping and led the response to China’s initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
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The anti-fraud law comes amid a rash of telecoms scams in and around China. In recent weeks, police from mainland China, Hong Kong and Asian neighbours have rescued hundreds of cyber-scam victims who had been held hostage to work in Cambodia and Thailand. Telephone scams are also rampant in China, mostly targeting the elderly.
The new law also stipulates the setting up of a countrywide mechanism by the State Council – China’s cabinet – to coordinate the anti-fraud efforts of different agencies and regions.
Telecommunications business operators, banking and financial institutions, nonbank payment institutions, and internet service providers would be required to shoulder “major responsibility” for anti-fraud security, and should establish internal risk prevention, control and security systems for the purpose, the law says.
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It also authorises police to impose travel restrictions on suspects who frequently visit so-called hotspot countries and regions unless they can provide valid reasons. Ex-offenders may also be subject to travel bans, for as long as three years after completing a jail sentence.
Wang Aili, director of the Criminal Law Office of the NPC Standing Committee’s legal affairs arm, said the new law was essential as telecoms and internet fraud had become so rampant as to pose serious threats to public security and social stability.
“In recent years, telecoms and network fraud have become serious and conspicuous … the criminals illegally obtain victims’ information through advanced telecoms network technologies and take advantage of loopholes in management,” Wang was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying.
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“Such crimes … have become the most serious and extensive, resulting in significant losses,” Wang said. “The public is deeply concerned because these crimes are seriously affecting their sense of fulfilment, happiness and security.”
While the new law is a major step forward in China’s anti-fraud drive, the key to success lies in effective enforcement cooperation with Southeast Asian countries, where many such syndicates are operating from, according to Wang Jiangyu, professor and director of the Centre for Chinese and Comparative Law at City University of Hong Kong.
“Given China’s tough stance and law enforcement, many of the scammers have already moved their operations to Southeast Asian countries, where they continue to operate human trafficking and call centres to scam people in the Greater China region,” Wang said.
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Du Yubo, a NPC Standing Committee member, also said China needed better international cooperation to monitor cross-border information, data, and money flows, as the criminal syndicates were now “better organised, with clear division of labour, and conduct activities across multiple countries”.
Restrictions on suspects leaving the country and international cooperation were crucial for effective law enforcement, the NPC website quoted her as saying.
Other top-level appointments declared included Jin Zhuanglong as minister of industry and information technology, and Wang Xiangxi as emergency management minister. Both announcements were expected, as the pair had been named party secretary of their respective ministries last month.
The committee on Friday also cleared the lists of Hong Kong and Macau candidates to be named as NPC deputies next year.
