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China, ASEAN step up war against drugs
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-21 05:46
China and its neighbours in Southeast Asia vowed yesterday to further
strengthen their co-operative efforts in fighting against illicit drugs,
especially the increasing menace of amphetamine type stimulants (ATS).
This consensus was reached at the Second International Congress of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China Co-operative Operations
in Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD), which concluded yesterday in Beijing.
"ASEAN countries and China are both victims of illicit drugs," said Zhou
Yongkang, minister of public security, at the ministerial level meeting of the
ACCORD congress.
Instant efforts are required because new types of illicit drugs such as ATS
are proliferating, producing strong social problems, including the generation of
drug-related HIV/AIDS cases.
Considering its growing influence in the region, China should play a leading
role in the campaign against illicit drugs, said Antonio Maria Costa, executive
director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), at a press
conference after the meeting.
To deal with the new challenges, the congress endorsed the initiative on
joint action against ATS-related crimes, which was proposed by the Chinese
delegation.
The abuse of ATS in this region has spread rapidly, especially among young
people, officials said. The majority of global ATS seizures occur in the region,
including 80 per cent of all methamphetamine hauls.
International law enforcement co-operation should be used actively to fight
against trans-national ATS-related crimes, it said.
In addition, a Beijing Declaration and an updated ACCORD Plan of Action were
adopted during the congress, which attracted more than 200 delegates from drug
control departments in China, ASEAN, UNODC and other international
organizations.
Both documents set up drug control targets, goals and relevant measures in
the upcoming three years.
For example, according to the action plan, nations in the region are asked to
promulgate effective laws before 2008 that drug-related money laundering should
be criminalized as a crime of the most serious level, and all direct and
indirect drug-related profits be confiscated.
(China Daily 10/21/2005 page2)
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