Ahmad Zahid (right) shaking hands with Meng Hong Wei during their meeting in Beijing. — Bernama photo
BEIJING: Malaysia deported 744 Chinese nationals over the past few years for their involvement in online fraud and gambling to the tune of about 20 billion RMB (about RM13 billion), said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said China expressed its appreciation and praised the efficiency of the Royal Malaysia Police in combating the syndicate based in Malaysia that involved nationals from China and another country.
Ahmad Zahid, who is on a six-day working visit to China up to Sunday, said the success against the syndicate was possible due to the close and continued cooperation between the Malaysian and Chinese security authorities which were in constant discussion on issues related to cross-border crimes.
He said his China visit had been fruitful in terms of meeting the objectives.
Besides, it enabled him to resolve several issues related to the operating system involving substantial losses to the Chinese people as a result of fraudulent activities, in addition to security-related matters associated with China.
Speaking at a press conference, Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said the Chinese expression of gratitude to the Malaysian police was translated into several medium- and long-term actions including activities related to the security of the two countries.
Ahmad Zahid, whose visit is at the invitation of Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun, also met Interpol president Meng HongWei and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, Meng Jianzhu.
He said several agreements were reached to extend the responsibility of the Regional Counter-Messaging Centre (CMC) operated by the Malaysian police, not only for the use of Asean countries but also to establish a footprint to help all Asian countries.
With the help of Chinese technology and equipment, the centre could become a communication channel to supply and share intelligence information fast, in fact in real time, he said.
He also said that consensus was also reached with the Interpol president, among others in the strengthening of relations among ministers responsible for policing and security at the regional level.
Ahmad Zahid said talks should be held more frequently at the regional and global levels because many issues had to be looked into to strengthen Interpol as an important policing agency.
He said the Interpol general assembly would be held in Beijing in September, which would bring together ministers responsible for policing and security and this would strengthen the policing institution. — Bernama