County must improve governance to curb fraudsters

AMONG THE SIX SUSPECTS involved in a recent telecom fraud that cost a college-bound student nearly 10,000 yuan ($1,500) and eventually her life, five of them are from Anxi county in Southeast China's Fujian province. Many telecom fraudsters have reportedly chosen the county as their base. Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

The latest tragedy in which an 18-year-old student in Linyi, East China's Shandong province, died of cardiac arrest after being swindled out of the money her family had saved for her tuition fees, should serve as a wake-up call to telecom regulators across the country.

In particular, it is notable that Anxi county is home to a lot of telecom fraudsters, most of whom are local residents. Of course, there is no need to judge the county and its people because of that, but the authorities are obliged to find out why a considerable number of locals seem to be involved in telecom fraud.