CMU SDGs
Title of the work : Dark Zomia: Myanmar Frontier and the Chinese Enclosure An academic article published in a journal indexed in an international database, Journal of Borderlands Studies (Available online February 28, 2025) Read the article at : https://cmu.to/OisLe Abstract This paper discusses the proliferation of illicit enterprises operated by Chinese syndicates along the Myanmar-Thai border. Far from being a closed enclave, the transnational cyber-scam industry has grown invincibly by weaving together various networks both within and across the border. Rethinking Scott's notion of “shatter zone” in the frontier of Southeast Asia, this paper argues that Myanmar's “indigenous Zomia” has increasingly been transformed into what I call “Dark Zomia” – a non-state space inhabited by runaway criminals who evade China's state-making project. As a result, the border region has become a contested terrain where the “friction of sovereignty” among various state and non-state entities has allowed illicit industries to thrive.