Liu Zhongyi, 60, China’s assistant minister for public security, has been tasked with combating call center scam gangs reportedly run by Chinese nationals in Myanmar border towns.
He is a well-known criminal investigative expert who has led China’s anti-crime operations for the past 30 years, handling thousands of complex cases.
Liu was born in August 1965 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Heilongjiang Public Security Police Vocational College. He is a Communist Party of China member who now holds the positions of assistant minister, party secretary-general, and director of the Fifth Bureau Command Center.
In his 32-year career, Liu has advanced from the head of a police station in Heilongjiang province to police captain and top-caliber crime investigator. Throughout his career, he has exhibited exceptional investigative skills.
In 2017, he was awarded the “National Public Security Model” for his expertise, outstanding capabilities and success in combating serious crimes while serving as deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.
In 2019, the governments of China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand jointly cracked 760 human trafficking and bogus marriage cases that occurred between June and December 2018, arresting 1,332 suspects, including 262 foreign people. The operation recused 1,130 abducted foreign women and 17 children.
Since he was appointed assistant minister, Liu has been actively traveling abroad to discuss cross-border crime prevention.
Liu has frequently appeared in Thai and Asian media, especially after the successful rescue of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was reportedly lured to Myawaddy, Karen State from Thailand by a scam gang in late January. He was returned to Thailand with a shaved head after being reported missing for a couple of days.
On Jan. 27, Liu met with Thai Police Lieutenant General Trairong Phiewphan, chief of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), to discuss cooperation on combating scam gangs in Myawaddy. During this visit, Liu also inspected the Thai border along the Moei River, monitoring Shwekokko and KK Park, opposite Mae Sot district in Thailand’s Tak Province.
This week, Liu traveled to Myawaddy to track down call center scam networks on China’s blacklist. He also visited foreign victims at the headquarters of the Border Guard Force (BGF), an ethnic Karen militia in Shwe Kokko Township, drawing much media attention.
This article first appeared in the Bangkok Post.
