Fighting transnational crime together

September 26, 2025

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The Chinese delegation and representatives from prosecution authorities from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN attended the 15th China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference held in Hong Kong. 

The three-day conference highlighted the need to tackle money laundering and corruption.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said that the Department of Justice being entrusted with organising this year’s event reflects the confidence both the central government and ASEAN countries have in Hong Kong. He added that the city will spare no effort in strengthening its co-operation with ASEAN countries on addressing and combatting transnational crimes.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam:

We would like to enhance our capacity-building programme so that we can create more opportunities for people coming from different jurisdictions to share their experience and to share their knowledge.

I am hoping that Hong Kong will take the lead to organise more training sessions, or knowledge or experience sharing sessions to enable friends coming from both the Mainland and ASEAN countries to have a better understanding as to how to tackle transnational crimes.

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Attendees acknowledged the need for closer co-operation when it comes to tackling international crimes and lauded the conference for being a great platform for exchanging ideas.

Indonesia Deputy Attorney General for Civil & State Administrative Affairs R Narendra Jatna:

The conference is really a great opportunity for having more close and more specific co-operation between China and ASEAN (countries), especially for Indonesia. 

Transnational crimes do not have borders. It is like we are living in the same region, Asia. So, we believe the conference will be a fruitful one just because we all have the same ideas and the same goal to counter all transnational crimes.

Thailand Department of Minburi Criminal Litigation Deputy Director General Charern Tanchatchawan (Interpretation):

Hong Kong has all the facilities, technical aspects, and everything. And Hong Kong is the very best place and very suitable to organise this kind of conference.

One of the topics he is interested in is human trafficking. Because there was a case before, that a Chinese citizen was lured to Thailand, was abducted and was bodily harmed. That concerns not only human trafficking, it also has a negative effect on Thailand tourism as well.

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The Lao Supreme People's Procuracy International Cooperation Bureau Deputy Director highlighted that communication and exchanging experiences are crucial regarding co-operation in tackling crimes. As a result, Laos and Hong Kong have agreed to hold bilingual meetings to foster co-operation.

Representatives from different jurisdictions also expressed their concerns regarding technology used in crimes and hope to learn from others' experience in tackling such issues.

Philippines Prosecutor General Richard Anthony D Fadullon:

Crimes now have evolved in a way wherein you have to be able to catch up with it, in terms of being able to address the problems that it creates in each particular country. And the closer the ties that we have, ASEAN and China, makes it easier for us to handle these cases.

Malaysia Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki bin Mokhtar:

The enforcement agencies face difficulties because the crimes often span multiple borders, involving international syndicates. And this gives challenges to the enforcement agencies to tackle these issues. 

So, we need to be more ready and more equipped with capabilities to tackle these kinds of crimes.

Some 80 representatives from prosecution authorities from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states attended the 15th China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference held in Hong Kong.

The three-day conference this year was focused on dealing with money laundering and corruption.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said given the fact that Hong Kong was given the chance to organise this annual event, shows the trust and confidence Beijing and ASEAN member states have in the city.

He added that Hong Kong will spare no effort in strengthening its co-operation with ASEAN countries on addressing and combatting transnational crimes.

“I am hoping that Hong Kong will take the lead to organise more training sessions, or knowledge or experience sharing sessions to enable friends coming from both the Mainland and ASEAN countries to have a better understanding as to how to tackle transnational crimes,” he said.

Those attending the event acknowledged the need for closer co-operation when it comes to tackling international crimes and lauded the conference for being a great platform for exchanging ideas.

A representative from Laos agreed that communication and exchanging experiences are crucial regarding co-operation in tackling such crimes. The country’s Supreme People's Procuracy International Cooperation Bureau Deputy Director Somboun Soukthavi said Laos and Hong Kong have agreed to hold bilingual meetings to foster enhanced co-operation.

Indonesian Deputy Attorney General for Civil & State Administrative Affairs R Narendra Jatna noted that China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and ASEAN countries share the same goal of countering transnational crimes, making the conference a great opportunity to boost co-operation.

Thailand’s Department of Minburi Criminal Litigation Deputy Director General Charern Tanchatchawan, on the other hand, was interested in the topic of human trafficking. He mentioned a case where a Chinese citizen was being lured to Thailand and expressed concerns that these kinds of cases may affect tourism in Thailand.

Representatives from different jurisdictions also expressed their concerns regarding technology used in crimes and hope to learn from others' experience in tackling such issues.

Additionally, Malaysian Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki bin Mokhtar and Philippine Prosecutor General Richard Anthony D Fadullon highlighted the challenges posed by technology in transnational crimes. They both agreed that closer co-operation is the key to fighting such problems.