New Delhi, May 26: The Chinese Embassy in Dhaka has, in strong words, urged its citizens to refrain from entering into marriages with Bangladeshi women, especially those facilitated through informal matchmaking channels or online platforms, reports Chinese newspaper Global Times.
The embassy’s warning, issued on May 25, showcases China’s serious concern over a dark nexus of romance scams, human trafficking, and illegal cross-border marriage operations that have drawn both countries into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
The notice, published in both Chinese and English, advises Chinese citizens to “reject the idea of ‘buying a foreign wife’,” avoid short video platforms promoting cross-border love, and remain alert to financial and legal risks.
The notice issues by the Chines embassy in Bangladesh also highlights the violations of anti-trafficking laws in Bangladesh, particularly under the country’s rigorous Anti-Human Trafficking Act that can result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
Over the past several years, Bangladeshi and regional media have repeatedly exposed a grim pattern: vulnerable women, often from impoverished or indigenous communities in Bangladesh, are lured into fake marriages with Chinese nationals and then trafficked to China. Once abroad, many are forced into sex work or servitude.
One such case, extensively covered by The Daily Star in March 2024, tells the harrowing story of “Lovely” (not her real name), a young woman from Chuadanga. Fooled by a local intermediary and a Chinese groom posing as a devout Muslim ready to settle in Bangladesh, she was married off in July 2023. By January, she had been transported to China and was reportedly sold into prostitution.
When she contacted her mother via a mobile app, she spoke of torture and being made to serve 10 to 15 clients daily. The perpetrators? A mix of local Bangladeshis and Chinese nationals, some posing as businesspeople, factory workers, or garment industry representatives, as reported by the Bangladesh newspaper. The case is currently under investigation by Bangladesh’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Several other reports suggest that many from remote districts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts tell of similar fates befalling young Chakma, Marma, and other indigenous women.
In May 2024, a 21-year-old Marma woman narrowly escaped being trafficked after locals in Khagrachhari intervened and rescued her from a gang attempting to forge her travel documents.
She had been taken to Dhaka under false pretences and forced into a sham marriage with a Chinese man. On May 1 that year, in Rangamati, another Chakma woman filed a police complaint alleging that her sister was kidnapped in Dhaka and was about to be trafficked. The case named a known female trafficker, Rika Chakma, who reportedly operated out of Uttara, a residential district in the capital notorious for hosting marriage broker networks, according to a media article.
Bangladesh is not alone in this disturbing trend. In 2019, a Reuters investigation revealed that over 600 Pakistani girls had been trafficked to China under the guise of marriage within just two years. Many of these victims ended up in forced labour, prostitution, or both, media reports.
Now, similar patterns are emerging in Bangladesh, as noted in a 2024 Eurasia Review article that documented how these transnational marriage frauds are not only about exploitation but also deeply rooted in systemic failures and poverty.
The Eurasia Review also cited the case of a Chinese national, Cui Po Wei, who married a 19-year-old Bangladeshi girl in July 2023. Posing as a factory worker and Muslim convert, he took her to China and allegedly forced her into prostitution. According to the girl’s mother, Cui paid local traffickers Tk 10 lakh for the arrangement.
The Chinese Embassy’s warning also highlights that Bangladeshi judicial processes are notoriously slow. A suspect arrested on trafficking charges may face months or even years of detention before a verdict is delivered. For trafficked women, this means prolonged trauma with little hope for timely redress. For the accused, especially foreign nationals, it could mean indefinite entanglement with a foreign legal system.
China’s own laws prohibit individuals and agencies from engaging in cross-border marriage for profit or under false pretences. Still, enforcement is often challenged by the clandestine nature of these operations and the fact that many of them begin outside China’s borders.
