China will wage war on drugs

China is committed to fighting drug crime and will continue to support the work of UN anti-narcotics agencies, State Councilor Guo Shengkun said on Tuesday.

Guo said that China will take an "active part in international and regional cooperation and jointly combat relevant transnational crimes," in remarks given at a special session called UNGASS (United Nations General Assembly Special Session) convened to discuss the global drug problem at the UN headquarters in New York.

The special session began on Tuesday and will conclude on Thursday.

World leaders, public health officials and activists are advocating for significant reforms to an objective proposed the last time a special session convened around drugs, in 1998, which focused on the elimination of illegal drugs in the world.

Guo said that there are areas in which a greater international effort is needed.

Countries should honor the principle of sovereign equality and "avoid injecting political factors into anti-narcotics efforts" or using drugs as a pretext to interfere with countries' internal affairs, he said.

"It is important to mobilize and involve international organizations, NGOs and civil society in countering the drug problem so as to create a situation where drug control agencies play a leading role, national governments share the responsibility, and the whole society gets actively involved," he said.

He said that "developed countries should provide funding and technical assistance to developing countries, and vigorously pursue the strategy of alternative development to improve lives for people in former drug plant cultivation areas".

China's efforts to combat illegal drugs include the seizing of more than 750 million tons of drugs in the past decade, and prosecuting more than 1 million drug crime cases, Guo said.

The government has enacted awareness campaigns on the dangers of drugs, such as implementing education programs in schools, where teenagers in approximately 250,000 schools across the country participated in a drug-prevention program, according to an exhibition on China's drug-control efforts on display at UN headquarters.

The exhibit also highlighted the publicity campaigns the government has run, which has given 1 billion people drug-prevention information, the exhibition said.

"We will continue to promote sustainable alternative development and provide assistance as much as we can to help relevant countries," Guo said.

"We stand ready to work with the international community to build partnership for mutual benefit, advance the cause of drug control, and work tirelessly for the health, safety and well-being of mankind."

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the UN's top policymaking body on the issue, adopted a new framework on countering the world's drug problem, drafted last month in Vienna, the UN's website said.

The document recognizes that to address and counter the problem, appropriate emphasis should be placed on individuals, families, communities and society as a whole, with a view to promoting and protecting the health, safety and well-being of all humanity.

"Putting people first means balanced approaches that are based on health and human rights, and promote the safety and security of all our societies," Yury Fedotov, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, told delegates.

"Putting people first means looking to the future, and recognizing that drug policies must most of all protect the potential of young people and foster their healthy styles of life and safe development."

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com