China Enhances Efforts for "Drug-Free" World

State Councilor Luo Gan said Tuesday that the Chinese Government will step up its cooperation with other countries, especially Southeast Asian countries, to work unremittingly for the thorough eradication of the drug plague for a "drug-free" world.

"Our drug control efforts will never stop until all drugs are eradicated," Luo made the pledge at a four-nation ministerial meeting on drug control cooperation between China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand Tuesday.

The four countries are adjacent to the notorious "Golden Triangle," the biggest drug production base in the world. The ministerial-level on drug control has been the first of its kind for the four nations.

The four nations "share the same goals and common interests on a number of matters concerning drug control, particularly on the finding of a practical solution to the drug problem in the "Golden Triangle" area, Luo said, noting that they have been conducting a lot of substantive cooperation in information-sharing, law enforcement cooperation, repatriation of criminals, addict rehabilitation, substitution planting and personnel training, which has generated visible results.

The four countries are all parties to a six-country seven-side MOU on drug control and the "ASEAN + China" sub-regional drug control cooperation mechanism.

Luo pointed out that strict prohibition of drugs is the consistent position of the Chinese Government, who, since the 1980s, have implemented the strategy of banning the abuse, trafficking, cultivation and production of drugs, eliminating the sources and checking the flow of drugs, enforcing laws more forcefully and seeking both a temporary solution and permanent cure for the drug problem.

The Chinese Government has always been an enthusiastic supporter of international cooperation on drug control, adhering to the principle of shared responsibility and stressing that the final solution to the global drug problem depends on concerted international anti-drug efforts, Luo said.

He pointed out that the four nations must be clearly aware that the drug-related crimes in this region are developing rapidly in a trend toward an organized, internationalized and specialized character owing to such factors as international politics and economy, especially the stimulation of the expanding international consumer market of drugs and the enormous pressure imposed by the Southeast Asian economic crisis.

While traditional drugs, such as opium, heroin and marijuana continue to pose serious threats to the four countries, the illegal production, trafficking and consumption of stimulants such as methamphetamine and ecstasy have been conducted more and more through networks and on an ever increasing scale, worsening the drug problem of this region.

Luo said that it is vital to promote the anti-drug fight on a global scale to take concrete measures to strengthen international cooperation on drug control in this region.

Among those who attended the meeting were Jia Chunwang, Minister of Public Security, Soubanh Srithirath, Minister to the President's Office of Laos, Tin Hlaing, Minister of Home Affairs and Chairman of the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control of Myanmar, and Thamarak Isarangura, Minister to the Prime Minister's Office of Thailand.






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