Roundup: China in International Anti-drug Campaign
China has been dedicated to the international anti-drug campaign since it became one of the drug-trafficking passages from the "Golden Triangle" to international markets 20 years ago.
China's cooperative efforts with other countries have deepened over the years. The following are some major events the country has taken part in:
In collaboration with the police in Thailand, Hong Kong and the United States, China uncovered the first trans-national case of drug-trafficking in October 1986.
The Chinese anti-drug delegation's first visit to Myanmar and Thailand in August 1990 marked the beginning of regional cooperation in drug elimination.
The first ministerial level conference on regional cooperation was held in Beijing in May 1995, in which the sub-regional anti-drug project and a Beijing Declaration was passed.
Executive departments from China and Myanmar began setting up cooperative liaison system in border areas in 1996, which enabled the two nations to exchange intelligence in the strike against international drug-trafficking.
China has launched supporting activities to help eradicate foreign drug sources. By the end of last year, China had provided northern Myanmar and northern Laos with hundreds of tons of grains and seed and two million saplings free or at low prices. China has also sent over 3,000 experts and technicians abroad for personnel training.
With the joint efforts of police from China and Myanmar, several most notorious international drug traffickers have been captured since April last year.
The Chinese police force's international cooperation has extended to anti-drug agencies in Hong Kong, Macao, the United States, Japan, Russia, Britain and France.
China and the US government signed memorandum of anti-drug cooperation as early as 1987. According to the US demands, China handed over an international drug trafficker to the US judiciary department in April 1997. In fact, China has become an effective barrier in the drug-trafficking from the "Golden Triangle" region to the United States.
"China has played an important role in international cooperation in anti-drug campaigns." said Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations' Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2002)
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