Rescue of a Chinese actor highlights fraud centers

A young Chinese actor was missing for two days in Thailand when his girlfriend decided to seek help online.

“We have no choice but to borrow the power of the Internet to make our voices heard,” Wang Xing’s friend wrote on Chinese social media platform Weibo on January 5.

The appeal went viral after it was shared by some of China's biggest celebrities, including singer Lei Zhang and actor Chen Lan.

Wang, 31, has received the attention of the country, as well as that of his government.

On January 7, Wang was rescued from a cross-border fraud center in Myanmar, and the news was met with a wave of relief.

But the quick and mysterious rescue operation has also led to questions about the fate of those still trapped inside the scam centres. This case is a grim reminder of the thriving criminal enterprise that continues to trap hundreds of thousands of people, forcing them to commit cybercrime.

Families of Chinese citizens who may be detained in one of these compounds have started a petition urging their government to help them as well. The petition document is shared online for anyone to fill out missing persons cases. The number of cases has already risen to more than 600 from the initial 174, and is still rising.

Wang told police that about 50 Chinese nationals were being held in the same place where he was alone.

“We urgently need to know if the remaining Chinese citizens (who were) with him have been rescued,” read one much-liked comment on Weibo.

“The lives of others are also lives.”

Wang disappeared on January 3 in the Thai border city of Mae Sot, which has become a hub for people smuggling into Myanmar.

He had flown to Bangkok for an acting job he was offered on WeChat. The person claimed to represent a major Thai entertainment company, according to Thai police.

The actor later told reporters that he was filming in Thailand around 2018 and had no doubt that it was different. But he was taken by car to Myanmar, where his head was shaved and forced to undergo training on how to defraud people via phone calls.

His girlfriend wrote on Weibo that she and his brother had tried to track him down and involve the police, but there were “little results”: Chinese police have yet to register a case, while the embassy in Thailand simply advised Wang's family to contact him. Police in Mae Sot.

But as discussions about Wang's whereabouts grew on Chinese social media, authorities began to take action. The case was finally registered, and the embassy told the media that it attached great importance to the case.

The next day, Thai and Chinese officials announced that Wang had been rescued.

He made his first public appearance alongside Thai police, but he did not say much, leaving it to officials to explain what happened.

Details of the rescue operation itself were scant. Officials did not even reveal where the fraud center was as conflicting versions of the story spread.

One reason may be that withholding more information was part of the deal that led to his release, according to a source who has previously rescued people from fraud centers and did not want to be named.

He told the BBC that these scam centers are keen to avoid attention. This meant that releasing Wang was the best option, compared to risking the entire operation because of the interest his disappearance had generated.

Beijing also wanted to end the debate over Wang's case. It wants its citizens to believe it has done enough and that fraud centers along its borders are no longer a problem.

A joint operation by China and ethnic rebel groups in 2023 sought to shut down fraud centers in Myanmar's Shan State.

But those working on the ground – NGOs and independent rescue workers – tell the BBC that scams are still on the rise, as construction expands into remote areas.

These days, the region along the border with Thailand is the main hub for international fraud in Myanmar, benefiting from partnerships with various armed groups vying for power there.

New fraud complexes have been built south of the city of Myawaddy, near the Thai border, where the worst cases of forced labor and other abuses are now being reported.

This has put great pressure on Thailand, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, especially from China.

Wang's case has led some Chinese to question how safe it is to travel to Thailand. “It seems that after the Wang Xing incident, there will be fewer people traveling to Southeast Asia, including Thailand,” a popular Weibo post said.

His rescue may have been a success for Thai officials and a victory for Beijing, but it did not end the discussion or spotlight on fraud complexes.

On Thursday, lines from a recent interview with him went viral on Weibo: “Actor Wang Xing claims he couldn't eat much food in Myanmar and didn't have time to use the toilet.”

His brief disappearance exposed just how common the danger was: others in the Chinese film industry have since shared their own accounts of being duped by scammers offering them jobs in Thailand.

Thai police are now reportedly investigating the disappearance of another Chinese model on the Thai-Myanmar border, after he was promised work in Thailand.

The China Federation of Radio and Television Association said in a statement on Tuesday that “many actors” had traveled abroad on the basis of false promises to shoot films, and as a result had suffered “severe damage to their personal and financial security.”

“We are very concerned about this,” the statement said.

“Please save (Wang) from danger and bring the story of No More Bets to life,” Wang's friend urged in her Weibo post — referring to the 2023 film's heroes who were rescued after being smuggled into scam centers.

Wang – like those shown in the film – is among the lucky minority.

Hundreds of thousands of victims from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore remain trapped in sprawling fraud complexes with little hope of rescue.

But ahead of the Lunar New Year, when crowds of Chinese tourists are expected to visit Thailand, the Thai government is keen to stress that the country is a safe destination. Thai police also insist that no Thais were involved in Wang's smuggling.

A police officer told reporters on Wednesday that Wang, who had just been released from his ordeal, had no concerns about returning to Thailand.

He added that Wang actually promised to return.