ASEM Meeting on Child Welfare Opens

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Sunday, November 11, 2001, updated at 11:24(GMT+8)

ASEM Meeting on Child Welfare Opens

The meeting of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Law Enforcement Agencies on Child Welfare opened in Guangzhou Saturday, aiming to strengthen international cooperation in combating crimes against women and children, and to protect the rights and interests of women and children in Asia and Europe.

Present at the opening ceremony were Luo Gan, a Chinese state councilor, Han Zhubin, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China, and Minoru Shikita, chairman of the Asia Crime Prevention Foundation.

Addressing the ceremony on behalf of the Chinese Government, Luo said the meeting with the theme "international cooperation to combat crimes against women and children," is of great significance at the beginning of the 21st century. The meeting is expected to discussions and exchanges, and to promote cooperation between the two continents, he said.

The issue of women and children is a matter of common concern. For 50 years every country in the world has taken efforts to safeguard the interests and rights of women and children with considerable success, Luo said. However, infringements on women's and children's rights still take place, including transnational and cross regional crimes of women and children trafficking, and child sex exploitation, which seriously harm the lives and development of women and children.

Luo said that to use legal means to fully and effectively protect the dignity, rights and interests of women and children isthe duty of every country. Since 1998 when the second ASEM passed the "Proposal on Children's Welfare," law enforcement agencies have effectively cooperated, which has advanced protection work for women and children and created a more effective legal environment for them.

Two Guidelines Published in China to Combat Crimes

According to Luo, the Chinese government has always attached importance to using legal means to protect women and children, and the country's work for women and children has been approached in a legalized and scientific way. This year China published " Guidelines for Chinese Women's Development (2001-2010)" and "Guidelines for Chinese Children's Development (2001-2010)," which called for joint efforts including legal means to combat crimes against women and children towards a sounder social environment in the next ten years, he said.

Luo said China is always willing to cooperate with the other countries, hoping that the meeting would help strengthen exchanges in the field and advance the use of legal means among the ASEM members.

Han Zhubin said that women's and children's development is widely considered an important part of the world's economic and social development. The freedom of women and the protection and care of children, is a key measure to judge a society. To crack down on crimes against women and children is a priority in Asia and Europe, and to guarantee their interests and rights is everybody's wish.

He said that to work towards women's liberation and to protect children development is a difficult task requiring combined efforts, and also is a duty of all law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement agencies should learn from each other's experiences in terms of improving laws and enforcing and supervising them, to prevent and combat illicit activities which infringe upon women's and children's lives and property. Agencies should also carry out wide-ranging and high-level cooperation and set up an effective systems to solve the problems concerned, he said.

Han also expressed hope that the meeting would help solidify the long-term and mutually beneficial relations among the ASEM law enforcement agencies.

The meeting, sponsored by the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China, is attended by 240 delegates from 38 countries and three international organizations.