BANGKOK, Nov 28 — Malaysia and China will enhance cooperation to tackle cross-border cybercrime which has increased at an alarming and worrying rate, said Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He said the bilateral cooperation to curb this non-traditional crime was important to reduce losses.
“In our discussion, we urged that Malaysia and China work together to curb cybercrime as it requires initiatives and specific measures,” he told Bernama.
Earlier, Muhyiddin had a bilateral meeting with China’s Deputy Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong outside the 13th Asean Ministers Meeting on Cross-Border Crime (AMMTC) and related meetings in Bangkok.
Issues raised in the meeting included bilateral cooperation, especially in dealing with online fraud, illegal gambling and scams.
The Immigration Department of Malaysia recently crippled a China-based online investment fraud syndicate and detained 680 Chinese nationals operating the activities in Cyberjaya.
The syndicate, which had been operating for the past six months carried out fraudulent activities targeting the Chinese population as victims.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin also held a bilateral meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Minister of Public Security, To Lam.
He said Malaysia and Vietnam would work together to address the issue of Vietnamese fishermen encroaching into Malaysian waters.
“I have raised the issue of Vietnamese fishermen invading the country’s waters and have asked for their help and cooperation in order to prevent or put a stop to this matter.
“This is a major issue in Malaysia. Several Vietnamese fishermen have been detained but the problem still persists. As such we sought the cooperation of Vietnam to resolve the matter,” he said.
Muhyiddin added that he had urged that the establishment of a joint working group between Malaysia and Vietnam be expedited, so that important agendas especially those related to cross-border security and crime, could be managed more efficiently.
Muhyiddin, meanwhile said the AMTCC is an important platform to deal with traditional and non-traditional crimes positively and effectively.
“No country can effectively deal with crime alone because it is not only happening locally but also at the international level.
“Asean and its three dialogue partners — China, Japan and South Korea will intensify cooperation to tackle cross-border crime. We need close cooperation.
“We need follow-up measures in various forms to face big issues together,” he added. — Bernama
