Fraud

Thai Buddhist amulets draw China’s anxious youth — and laundering networks

Thai Buddhist amulets have become a lifeline for anxious young Chinese — and an ideal vehicle for cross-border money laundering, forcing Thai authorities to crack down on the fast-growing amulet trade.

Caixin Global

07 Aug 2026

[Big read] Why Chinese gamers pay African youths to play for them

Chinese-run studios across Africa employ young workers to grind the game — do repetitive tasks to gain in-game currency — turning play into digital labour and exposing the opportunities and tensions behind the business. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Lim Zhan Ting finds out more.

Lim Zhan Ting

29 Jul 2026

A journalist’s farewell: The people who changed how I see China

As her stint ends, Lianhe Zaobao Shanghai correspondent Li Kang looks past the trade wars and economic data to remember the raw resilience, vulnerability and quiet dignity of the ordinary people she met.

Li Kang

29 Jun 2026

PwC’s Evergrande crisis deepens with record Hong Kong settlement and criminal probes

Evergrande’s fraud has caught up with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, bringing major fines, client exits and criminal probes, and casting doubt over the accounting giant’s future in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Caixin Global

04 May 2026

US-China rivalry undermines fight against cyber scams in Southeast Asia

China and the US have reasons to work together to tackle the scourge of cyberfraud in Southeast Asia. The problem, however, is that their geopolitical rivalry gets in the way.

Stephen Olson

28 Apr 2026

Evergrande’s Hui Ka Yan: From rags to empire to prison

The collapse of Evergrande and its chairman Hui Ka Yan, marks the end of the man-made property boom in China. Lianhe Zaobao’s China news editor Yang Danxu traces the rise and fall of China’s former richest man.

Yang Danxu

15 Apr 2026

China captures Prince Group associate tied to US$24 billion crypto network

The arrest of a senior associate of alleged crime boss Chen Zhi exposes the hidden machinery behind Prince Group’s empire, as China’s widening crackdown pulls back the curtain on a vast Southeast Asian network of scams, gambling and illicit finance.

Caixin Global

10 Apr 2026

Why alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi was sent to China, not the US

Despite facing criminal charges in the US, Prince Group founder and chairman Chen Zhi was deported to China. His case sheds light on Cambodia’s geopolitical calculations — and why Beijing’s pull outweighed Washington’s claims. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Liu Liu looks at the implications.

Liu Liu

12 Jan 2026

Why Taiwan is cracking down on RedNote

Taiwan’s crackdown on RedNote isn’t about ideology or censorship, asserts Taiwan academic Ho Ming-sho. It’s a legal showdown over accountability, as the island demands foreign platforms obey its laws — or lose access.

Ho Ming-sho

18 Dec 2025

How scammers are tarnishing Singapore’s incorruptible image

Singapore’s spotless reputation as a disciplined financial hub faces a reckoning as luxury property, philanthropy, and family offices become tools for global scam syndicates — testing how incorruptible the city-state truly is, says former journalist Goh Choon Kang.

Goh Choon Kang

11 Nov 2025

How cryptocurrency is used to move billions of RMB in and out of China

Cryptocurrencies have lowered the barriers to running an underground currency exchange as they eliminate the need for large reserves of both local and foreign currencies. But their decentralised nature and degree of anonymity offered to users have also complicated supervision and law enforcement efforts.

Caixin Global

28 Feb 2025

Trump-Musk joint reforms and the American constitutional crisis

What is the true purpose of recent audits and reforms by US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)? Though they purportedly target corruption, researcher Zhu Ming says that they could be an attempt to undermine the constitution and consolidate power.

Zhu Ming

24 Feb 2025