BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s President Xi Jinping met Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Beijing on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, as the two countries eye closer ties amid growing global uncertainties.
Paetongtarn is on an official visit to China from February 5 to 8, marking her first visit to Beijing since taking office in August last year.
The four-day visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic relations, which are currently overshadowed by issues such as online fraud and safety concerns.
The recent high-profile case of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who went to Thailand for what he thought was an acting job but was abducted and later rescued from a scam centre in Myanmar, has sparked heated discussion in China about cross-border telecom scams.
Thailand, concerned about the impact on its vital tourism sector, has sought to allay safety concerns among Chinese, who constitute the largest group of visitors to the Southeast Asian nation.
On Tuesday, the Thai government said it would cut electricity supply to some border areas with Myanmar in an attempt to curb illegal scam centres.
Southeast Asia, especially border towns in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, has become a hub for telecom and other online fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations, which says hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to work in scam centres.
The talks between Xi and Paetongtarn also come as Beijing is navigating a new trade war with the United States, triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports.
In November last year, Thai Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said the country had a good balance between the U.S and China and expects to benefit from the trade war as Thai exports to the U.S would increase because the U.S. would be taking fewer imports from China.
(Reporting by Shi Bu, Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Kim Coghill and Kate Mayberry)
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