China reacts to the arrest of its nationals for cyber fraud in Sri Lanka

Representative image (Image credit: AP)

COLOMBO: The Chinese Embassy said on Tuesday that it is closely following the arrest of several of its nationals Sri Lanka for allegedly being involved online fraud and the process for his repatriation is underway Sri Lankan police said more than 230 Chinese nationals aged between 22 and 49 have been arrested from different parts of the island in the past fortnight.
The Chinese nationals were arrested for allegedly overstaying their visit visas and being part of online scams run from Sri Lanka.
The Chinese embassy in a statement said it is closely following recent reports that Sri Lankan police arrested several foreign suspects of online fraud, including those of Chinese nationality.
“Because of Sri Lanka’s advantages in telecommunications infrastructuregeographical location and friendly relations with China, as well as the lack of public awareness of online fraud, some electronic fraud criminal gangs have moved to Sri Lanka and continue to engage in fraudulent activities targeting Chinese citizens at home and abroad,” the embassy said.
The Chinese government has taken note and is promoting law enforcement cooperation against online fraud between the two countries, the statement added.
“To suppress effectively telecommunications fraud and create a strong deterrent, the ministry of public security of China sent a task force in September to jointly carry out a special operation with the Sri Lankan police. A large number of suspects were arrested. Repatriation and other work is steadily progressing,” the embassy said.