24/10/2025

FRIDAY | OCT 24, 2025

7

Myanmar scam centre raid sends 600 fleeing to Thailand

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to achieve the target of spending 2% of GDP on defence two years early, media reports said days before a visit by US President Donald Trump. Longtime pacifist Japan has moved towards a more muscular defence policy but Washington, with about 60,000 military personnel in Japan and keeping an eye on China, wants it to do more. Tokyo’s previous target was to be spending 2% of GDP in the 2027-2028 fiscal year. But Takaichi wants this achieved in the current tax year running to March 31, 2026, Jiji Press, Kyodo News and other media reported. Takaichi, who became Japan’s first woman prime minister this week, is expected to make the announcement in her first policy speech in parliament today. She would also pledge to revise three key defence and security policy documents by the end of 2026, the reports said. Trump is due to arrive in Japan on Monday in between an Asean summit in Malaysia and an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. He has heaped pressure on other US allies to boost defence spending, including the European Union and Nato members. Tokyo would tell Trump that it would place a “strengthening of defence capabilities as the top priority, based on the reviewing of key security documents”, said Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. Takaichi, 64, an acolyte of former premier Shinzo Abe who had warm relations with Trump, has long been viewed as a China hawk, although she toned down her rhetoric in the INDIA PLANS TO TIGHTEN AI RULES AGAINST DEEPFAKES NEW DEHLI: India has proposed sweeping new regulations to govern AI, aiming to address a surge in misinformation and deepfake videos. India has more than 900 million internet users, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India. The government has launched an online portal called Sahyog aimed at automating the process of sending government notices to content intermediaries. “These proposed amendments provide a clear legal basis for labelling, traceability and accountability,“ it added. – AFP SEOUL HALTS DEMILITARISED ZONE TOURS SEOUL: South Korea has halted tours of the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, officials said yesterday ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump. “From late October to early November, there would be no Unification Ministry-operated special field trips to Panmunjom,“ said Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which handles fraught relations with the North. Seoul has said a meeting between Washington and Pyongyang “cannot be ruled out”. – AFP

BR I E F S

recent leadership contest. Today, Takaichi said China is “an important neighbouring country and it is necessary to build a constructive and stable relationship” with Beijing, said newspaper Asahi . But she also said “there are concerns regarding security and economic security”, it added. Japan’s fifth premier in as many years leads a minority government. In her first remarks in office on Tuesday, she said her priority is to address inflation, a major source of anger among voters. Her policy speech would advocate “responsible and proactive fiscal policy“, the reports said. This would balance investment in economic security, food and energy, as well as growth areas such as AI and chips, with consideration to fiscal discipline, the reports added. She said Japan needs foreign workers but “illegal acts and deviations from the rules by some foreign nationals have resulted in the sense of anxiety and unfairness is being felt”. “While drawing a clear line from xenophobia, we will take a firm stand against such acts,“ she said, according to the reports. The populist Sanseito party, which calls immigration a “silent invasion”, has been making gains in recent elections. A new poll published yesterday by daily Yomiuri Shimbun put support for Takaichi’s Cabinet at 71%, compared with 34% in September for predecessor Shigeru Ishiba. Among surveys conducted after Cabinet inaugurations, this ranks as the fifth highest since 1978 when comparative surveys became available. – AFP BANGKOK: More than 600 people have fled one of Myanmar’s most notorious scam centres and crossed into Thailand, a Thai provincial official told AFP yesterday, after a military raid on the compound. Sprawling compounds where internet fraudsters target people with romance and business cons have thrived along Myanmar’s loosely governed border during its civil war, sparked by a 2021 coup. A highly publicised crackdown starting in February saw some 7,000 workers repatriated and Thailand enact a cross-border internet blockade. But an AFP investigation this month revealed that construction has o Those not victims of human trafficking may be prosecuted for illegal border crossing: Deputy governor

South alleged involvement in cyberscams, as well as 29 Chinese nationals during a police operation in the capital Phnom Penh. Authorities also seized 126 computers and 30 phones. The high-profile repatriations follow public outcry over the torture and killing of a South Korean college student in Cambodia this year, reportedly by a crime ring. Last week, South Korean Foreign Ministry officials met Cambodia’s prime minister and local police to discuss fake jobs and scam centres. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Monday 10 more alleged scammers were arrested and two individuals were rescued. About 550 South Koreans were reported missing or held against their will after entering Cambodia since last year, said the Foreign Ministry this month. Seoul estimates about 1,000 South Koreans are among some 200,000 people working in scam operations in Cambodia. – AFP Koreans for

comprised “foreign nationals”, both men and women, and authorities expect more to cross into Thailand. Indonesian state news agency Antara reported that about 20 Indonesians had “crossed into Thai territory via the Moei River” as of Wednesday, according to the Indonesian embassy in Yangon, which cited Thai authorities. The transnational scam industry has ballooned in Southeast Asia in recent years, with thousands of scammers involved, experts said. Victims in the wider region were conned out of up to US$37 billion (RM156 billion) in 2023, according to a United Nations report. Thai Finance Deputy Minister Vorapak Tanyawong resigned on Wednesday following allegations linking him to cyberscam operations based in neighbouring Cambodia. Last week, Cambodia deported 64 South Koreans accused of links to scam networks, with police seeking arrest warrants for most on their return to South Korea. Cambodian authorities said yesterday they arrested 57 more

continued while Starlink internet service receivers have been installed en masse , seeming to connect the hubs to the Elon Musk-owned satellite network. Tak province deputy governor Sawanit Suriyakul Na Ayutthaya said yesterday “677 people fled from scam centre” KK Park in Myanmar across the Moei river into Thailand. “Immigration police and a military task force have worked together to provide assistance under humanitarian procedures and those who fled would undergo screening.” He added that the process would allow authorities to determine if the individuals are victims of human trafficking and if not, they may be prosecuted for illegal border crossing. Experts said while some scam workers were clearly trafficked into often fortified compounds, others go voluntarily with hopes of earning more in the multibillion-dollar illicit industry than they could at home. The Tak Provincial Administration office, which oversees the area, said the group entering from Myanmar

Japan PM aims to achieve defence spending target two years early

Border demarcation to be expedited BANGKOK: Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to expedite efforts to demarcate their shared land Reference concerning the production of orthophoto maps by adopting new technologies to expedite survey and demarcation work.“ The special meeting was SPECTACULAR SHOW ... Nihang Sikh warriors in Amritsar, India, displaying their skills in conjunction with Fateh Divas, a celebration of military victory and a tribute to courage, unity and standing up against tyranny. – AFPPIC

“Following completion of the survey and emplacement of temporary markers, both sides would seek approval from their respective governments and consult on appropriate mechanisms to address land occupation adjustments.” It said the emplacement of temporary markers would serve survey purposes only and would not prejudice the official international boundary between the countries. “Both sides agreed to instruct local military and civilian authorities to ensure the safety of the Joint Survey Team, avoid any acts of provocation, and clear landmines in accordance with Article 3 of the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding.“ – Bernama

boundary, following a two-day Special Meeting of the Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary held in Chanthaburi, the eastern province of Thailand, from Tuesday to Wednesday. The Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry said both sides agreed to instruct the Joint Technical Sub-Commission to replace 15 boundary pillars at their original locations and specifications, while three submerged boundary pillars would be replaced at new positions to be jointly agreed. “Both countries agreed to accelerate the revision of the 2003 Terms of

co-chaired by Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry Adviser Prasas Prasasvinitchai and Minister in charge of the State Secretariat of Border Affairs of Cambodia Lam Chea. Regarding the boundary segment in the areas of Chouk Chey-Nong Chan Village and Prey Chan-Nong Ya Kaeo Village, the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry said both countries are committed to finalising the technical instruction for the joint survey and emplacement of temporary markers along priority terrain segments.