Also this week, a PR blitz in cybercrime hub, arresting election dissenters, and turning on Rakhine after Chinese help in Shan State.

People in the Karen National Union-held township of Kyondoe are forbidden from sheltering or transporting scammers who fled a show crackdown in Myawaddys KK Park.

Min Aung Hlaing will head the top-level committee, whose formation follows Chinas crucial support for the juntas election and its military operations in northern Shan.

As the junta prepares for heavily rigged polls to be held in parts of the country, Bertil Lintner looks back at Myanmars troubled record of electionswhich have rarely been free or fair.

The regime is staging demolitions in KK Park after its allied Border Guard Force relocated cybercrime operations elsewhere.

Amid dramatic scenes of scam centers being blown up at the business park, ringleaders have quietly moved their operations to nearby locations in Myawaddy.

The former Saffron Revolution leader U Pyinnya Zawta speaks to The Irrawaddy about his year in prison and eventual amnesty.

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is courting Ma Ba Tha extremists, sparking fears of a resurgence in ethno-religious violence after juntas election.

Under cover of legitimate scientific exploration, China is gathering vital data on the weaknesses of other nations and building dependencies it can later exploit, warns Ratish Mehta.

This week, our editors discuss how internal weaknesses and massive pressure from junta-allied China brought the formerly victorious Taang National Liberation Army to its knees.

Bai Suocheng, his son Yingcang and many other members of their family-run syndicate were convicted of fraud worth over $4 billion and killing six Chinese nationals.

Focusing blame for arsenic contamination of the Salween River on Karenni and other EAOs obscures Chinas deep role in Myanmars frontier mining.

Junta raids on Myawaddys KK Park have sparked a scramble among syndicates to rehire fleeing scammers.

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At least 88 detained for as little as liking Facebook posts in crackdown ahead of staged vote.

Official campaign period begins in Mandalay under tight restrictions, with empty streets and little expectation of a genuine contest.

The TNLAs returnat Beijings insistenceof two towns to the junta this month is the latest example of Chinas bullying and hypocritical stance toward its neighbor.