As a good and friendly neighbour, China hopes to see a peaceful, stable, united and developing Afghanistan. China is pleased to witness that in the past year, the Afghanistan National Unity Government has made great progress in each and every area of the rebuilding process. China welcomes and appreciates the efforts made by the Afghanistan Government in reducing drug production, including inter alia, the formulation and implementation of the National Counter Narcotics Action Plan (2015-2019).
In the meantime, the opium cultivation, drug production and trafficking is still rampant in Afghanistan. Interwining with armed conflict, terrorism and transnational organized crimes, the drug problem in Afghanistan poses a serious threat to its neighbours and other countries as well.
Concerted efforts by Afghanistan, other countries and international organizations are a must in addressing the drug problem in Afghanistan. China welcomes the achievements that have been made in this regard, and believes that today’s meeting would help us in building consensus, further promoting countries, UN and other relevant international organizations to fully tap the potentials of the relevant cooperation initiatives under bilateral, regional and UN framework and make more pragmatic efforts in addressing the drug problem of Afghanistan, on the premise of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan. China has the following suggestions on strengthening the cooperation:
First, we shall support the peace-building process in Afghanistan. The realization of peace, stability and development is the basic prerequisite for the eradication of drugs in Afghanistan. The international community should firmly support the Afghanistan Government in strengthening its capacity of governance as well as independently promoting national reconciliation, effectively honour the aid commitment to Afghanistan, support and help Afghanistan people to safeguard security, improve people’s welfare and develop economy.
Second, we shall strengthen pragmatic cooperation, by establishing the channels for cooperation among law enforcement agencies of countries and enhance the efficiency of cooperation; and by strengthening cooperation on information sharing, border control, law enforcement, regulation of precursor chemicals and counter money-laundering. We also need to enhance coordination and synergy among different cooperation initiatives addressing Afghanistan drug issue, with a view to explore complementary advantages and form joint efforts.
Third, continue to provide technical assistance and other forms of concrete support to Afghanistan. Her Excellency Mrs. Azimi has identified some priorities of international support that Afghanistan needs. We hope countries,UN and other international organizations could assist Afghanistan in building the capacity of drug control through training, providing technical and equipment assistance.
China actively supports and assists drug control in Afghanistan. Apart from being a key player in the cooperation under the frameworks of UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Paris Pact, China offers lots of direct assistance to Afghanistan with no political conditions attached. There are bilateral Agreement on Drug Control Cooperation at governmental level, and MOU on the Drug Control Cooperation between the police agencies of the two countries. In recent years, a number of cooperative activities such as joint investigation, controlled delivery and information sharing, have been effectively carried out between the police agencies of the two countries. Since 2007, China has trained over 200 personnel for the law enforcement agencies of Afghanistan.
China will continue to place drug control cooperation as one of the priorities in supporting the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan, along with Afghanistan, other countries, UN and other relevant international organizations, in the hope of solving the Afghanistan drug problem at earliest possible time.