US to cooperate with Pacific island nations to stop drugs

At the inauguration ceremony of the US Embassy in Vanuatu on August 29, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the US is determined to support the anti-drug front in the Pacific and will make an announcement next week on drug-related law enforcement in the region.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. Photo: Reuters

"We are concerned that some of the (drug trafficking) networks that have developed in China and Southeast Asia are starting to use the Pacific to move goods to Latin America and the United States. Many of our partners in the Pacific want to work with us to address that," he said.

Mr Campbell also met China's Pacific envoy Qian Bo in Tonga on August 28 and said they discussed finding areas of cooperation in the Pacific, such as climate change projects.

“Many of those countries would like to see the US and China maintain open channels of communication and find potential areas of cooperation or interaction, even if they are narrow areas,” he said.

The Pacific Islands Forum also backed a 400 million Australian-funded ($271 million) plan on August 28 to improve police training in the region and establish a mobile police unit.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/my-se-hop-tac-voi-cac-quoc-dao-thai-binh-duong-de-ngan-chan-nan-buon-ma-tuy-post309834.html