The gangs that kidnap Asians and force them to commit cyberfraud

> The schemes are organised by ethnic-Chinese gangs, which sometimes collaborate with their local counterparts, says Jeremy Douglas of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

It's especially relevant (to me, anyway) because of the ongoing exploitation of Cambodia by Chinese interests who have Cambodian officials in their pockets because, well, money.

Sihanoukville is something a friend had highlighted to me previously - it's seen massive development - by Chinese developers for a market comprised of Chinese tourists and expats. So the development hasn't exactly poured money into the economy, unless you count the minimal wages paid to local labourers, or the bribes to officials.

And the development has seen locals being displaced by obliging Cambodian officials when they were seen as getting in the way of "progress", as well as the Cambodians displaced because they've been priced out of their own town.

Mind you, economic colonialism is nothing new, and the countries that a lot of HNers hail from, myself included, have done exactly the same in the past (and, being fair, are probably still doing so now to some extent), but I feel it highlights the risks of the "Belt and Road" strategy as much as the ports in Sri Lanka et al that are now owned by Chinese interests because of loan terms that couldn't be met.

Right now China is offering up lots of money for influence in the Pacific, and lots of "development" loans, and the eventual cost is going to be massive for the entire planet - a lot of those small Pacific nations have very large EEZs, and the ability to fish in an absolutely unsustainable manner in those EEZs is often what China asks for in return.

There's also been worrying suggestions of Chinese military bases as a form of quid for the quo. (I say worrying because of China's aggressive tendencies in Biển Đông/West Phillipine Sea/North Natuna Sea/South China Sea).