Why Cambodia gave up alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi to China
The timing of Chen’s arrest and extradition – coming hot on the heels of the ceasefire agreed between Cambodia and Thailand
[SIEM REAP] Cambodia’s extradition of alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi to China reflects the extent to which Phnom Penh finds itself backed into a corner. The protracted pummelling Cambodia has suffered in its recent border conflict with neighbouring Thailand serves to highlight the diplomatic repercussions for harbouring extensive transnational online fraud syndicates.
The 38-year-old Fujian-born businessman, who has extensive interests spanning real estate, consumer services and financial services through his Phnom Penh-based Prince Group, was arrested on Jan 6. Chen, who was naturalised as a Cambodian citizen in 2014, was extradited to China the following day, in response to a request from Beijing.
The timing of Chen’s arrest and extradition – coming hot on the heels of the ceasefire agreed between Cambodia and Thailand on Dec 27, 2025 – is likely no coincidence.
China has played a prominent role as mediator between the neighbours, including hosting tripartite talks in Yunnan province on Dec 29. And Beijing has made no secret of how curbing the drastic harm and financial losses its people suffer at the hands of South-east Asia’s industrial-scale scam operations – typically masterminded by Chinese nationals – is a major agenda priority in its engagements with hot-spot countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.
Thailand, meanwhile, led by an electioneering prime minister wanting to be seen as tough on border matters, has partly framed the border conflict as a war on scams and made Cambodia’s cooperation on the issue a key condition of the ceasefire, agreed upon after nearly three weeks of intense fighting.
“The timing certainly matters. Cambodia is currently facing heightened regional and domestic pressure, including setbacks in its confrontation with Thailand and a growing need for Chinese diplomatic backing,” Jacob Sims, a transnational crime expert and visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center, told The Straits Times.
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Pressure had been mounting on Chen and his Prince Group business empire since the United States and Britain announced coordinated sanctions and indictments on Oct 14. But Cambodia’s revocation of citizenship and deportation of the Chinese-born Chen represents a marked departure from its initial response stating that the Prince Group met all legal requirements to operate in the country and that Chen’s naturalisation was likewise granted lawfully.
As head of the Prince Group, Chen’s public-facing business interests comprised a sprawling conglomerate spanning real estate, banking and airlines, ingratiating himself with Cambodia’s business and political elite. He was appointed as an adviser to both former prime minister Hun Sen and his son Hun Manet, the current prime minister, and was awarded the neak oknha title, an official honorific bestowed by the King to distinguished businessmen.
At the 2022 Asean Summit in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen, known for his penchant for luxury watches, gifted attending leaders tourbillon watches made by Prince Horology, a subsidiary of Chen’s business empire.
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“After the US/UK action, Chen became a liability rather than an asset for the regime,” Sims said. “Extraditing him to China was the path of least resistance. It deflects Western scrutiny while ensuring a politically sensitive case stays out of US courts, where it could have exposed far wider networks.”
While Beijing is now happy to claim credit for its role in helping to secure the most recent ceasefire, the fact that Cambodia’s closest ally did not respond more forcefully earlier left Phnom Penh feeling exposed and isolated, and it was forced to endure a one-sided conflict with a vastly superior Thai military for longer than was comfortable.
That fed into the Cambodian government’s earlier attempts to reduce its over-reliance on Beijing and court Washington’s intervention in its border conflict with Thailand, including nominating US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“We don’t have a lot of friends. We don’t have backers,” said Virak Ou, founder of the Future Forum think-tank in Phnom Penh.
There are parallels with China’s approach in Myanmar. Initially dissatisfied with the junta’s lack of cooperation in addressing the scams issue, Beijing withheld diplomatic support after the Myanmar military seized power in a 2021 coup and went so far as allowing a major rebel offensive in 2023. Only when the risk of regime collapse became too great did Beijing throw its diplomatic and military support behind the junta, as well as provide backing for the country’s ongoing general election.
The setbacks for Cambodia on the battlefield and in the diplomatic arena come amid building domestic pressures at a time of generational leadership transition. After more than three decades in power, Hun Sen remains de facto leader but is blooding his eldest son Hun Manet, who took over as prime minister in 2023, as successor.
After a period of stable economic growth since the turn of the century, Cambodia’s economy faces structural challenges due to an over-reliance on low-skilled garment and footwear factory exports and construction, as well as high levels of household debt. The grey market scam economy, which some estimates put at the equivalent of around half of the country’s gross domestic product, meanwhile, has damaged the country’s international reputation and risks turning off foreign investors.
Ou said the need for reforms – from building a sustainable economic base to modernising the military and streamlining a bloated public administration – is more urgent and apparent than ever, but that if recent history was anything to go by, they would likely turn out to be “half-baked”.
“Reform is needed, for sure... also, we need to rebuild our reputation,” he said. “From the farmers to the Prime Minister, I think everybody’s getting that message. The question is, actually, what – what will that reform look like?”
Presenting China with a high-value target in Chen, along with the promise of further tough action on scams, might win Cambodia some sorely needed ongoing support in maintaining the ceasefire with Thailand.
China amplified Chen’s extradition, framing it as a win for Beijing’s cross-border law enforcement and its determination to protect its citizens from online fraud. State media aired footage of a forlorn-looking Chen on a China Southern jet, shackled and dressed in a blue jumpsuit.
It remains to be seen whether continued international pressure, and China’s increased leverage within Phnom Penh, will translate to further action against the hundreds of other scam compounds operating in Cambodia.
“Given the Cambodian regime’s dependence on this illicit economy for regime survival, unless pressure is sustained and expanded to other senior figures and elite enablers, we are unlikely to see the Cambodian scam industry meaningfully dismantled,” Sims said. THE STRAITS TIMES
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