Opinion | To beat Cambodia’s scam gangs, US must work with China – not blame it

On April 1, amid China’s cybercrime offensive in Southeast Asia, Cambodia extradited to China Li Xiong, former chairman of Huione Group, which had been severed from the US financial system last year for laundering at least US$336 million from cyber scams between 2021 and 2025. The US had also sanctioned

Huione’s parent company, Prince Group, and indicted founder Chen Zhi. In January, Cambodia extradited

Chen to China, securing the arrest of a man accused of being Cambodia’s biggest scam kingpin.

The takedown occurred after parallel but apparently uncoordinated efforts from the United States and China.

This pressure has forced Cambodia to crack down on scam operations, vowing to eradicate the industry by the end of this month. The government claims to have raided about 250 locations and has passed legislation imposing tough penalties on offenders.

But this appears to have only scratched the surface. The deeper system remains intact, protected by politically connected elites who are likely to emerge unscathed. The next stage in tackling the cybercrime epidemic mandates the same combination that brought down Li and Chen: US economic leverage and Chinese operational efforts.

Both Chinese and Americans have been targeted by the scam industry operating out of Cambodia, worth as much as US$19 billion annually

. The industry, which bloomed during the Covid-19 pandemic, began by scamming Chinese nationals but China’s robust anti-scam campaign led operators to pivot their attention elsewhere. In 2024 alone, Americans lost some US$10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scammers.