Yunnan to set up a strict border control zone to combat fraud

A city in Southwest China's Yunnan province announced on Tuesday plans to temporarily set up a strict border control zone from Sunday to Dec 31 to combat telecom and online fraud.

Tengchong is located in the west of Yunnan and borders Myanmar to the north and northwest. The city is an important gateway for China into South Asia and Southeast Asia.

According to an official announcement from Tengchong, the establishment of the zone is meant to improve the management of personnel and vehicles in the area, so as to restrict trespassers from entering the control zone and reduce the chances of people illegally crossing the border and participating in telecom fraud in northern Myanmar.

The control zone will cover several townships bordering Myanmar, including Houqiao township, Diantan township and Mingguang township, according to the announcement.

For residents within the control zone who engage in farming or require land for cattle grazing, local communities will issue a certificate to each of them, and the residents need to register at the nearest joint border station once a month.

Boundary officials and forest rangers who need to conduct business within the control zone should also bring their certificates and register at the border stations once a month.

Individuals involved in border projects, maintenance and bamboo and wood cutting within the zone should provide certificates from the property owner or relevant departments and register at the stations every 15 days, the announcement said.

The governments of the border towns will notify joint border stations about government personnel and vehicles from areas outside the border towns that need to enter and exit the control zone. Military personnel and police officers performing normal duties will not need to undergo inspections, it said.

Officers from the joint border stations will register and verify individuals and vehicles entering the control zone. Those who lack the required documents will be checked and handed over to local police stations for further handling, it said.