TEXT: DRUG CERTIFICATION STATEMENT OF EXPLANATION FOR CHINA
(China remains major route for Southeast Asian heroin)

Washington -- Following is the text of the State Department's statement of explanation on Clinton's 1998 narcotic certification decision for China:

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STATEMENT OF EXPLANATION

CHINA

China both remains a major transit route for Southeast Asian heroin destined for the United States and other Western markets and has had increasingly to deal with the phenomenon of itself becoming such a market. China continues to take a strong stand to battle this trend. In 1997, it further intensified its nation-wide efforts to combat drugs by focusing special attention on anti-drug education. Narcotics seizures also increased, as did the monitoring of precursor chemicals: there was a four-fold increase over 1996 in the seizures of such chemicals. China also moved to strengthen anti-drug legislation and for the first time identified money laundering as a crime. In 1997, China signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement with India which placed special emphasis on narcotics trafficking. China is also a party to all of the U.N. narcotics conventions.

USG-PRC cooperation on counternarcotics issues improved in 1997. In October, as part of the Joint Statement issued during the Summit between Presidents Jiang and Clinton, China agreed to the opening of reciprocal drug enforcement offices in Beijing and Washington and to the establishment of a Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement which specifically included narcotics trafficking as one of the issues to be addressed. China hosted two Drug Enforcement Administration seminars on chemical control, sent officials to the United States to take part in airport interdiction training and continued working-level exchanges of information on international drug trafficking cases with USG law enforcement officials. A direct e-mail link with DEA to facilitate information exchange on drug cases has been established. In April, China transferred to the United States for prosecution on drug trafficking charges a Burmese national in its custody.

China continues to struggle with the corruption and greed which have accompanied economic success and prosperity. The Government has passed specific laws to deal with officials guilty of the use, manufacture, or delivery of narcotics. Penalties for such transgressions include execution. There is no evidence of high-level official involvement in the drug trade. The juxtaposition, however, of low-paid law enforcement and other officials with the lucrative drug business creates the potential for corruption.

Chinese officials have noted that 90 percent of the heroin flowing into China comes from Burma. China's close trade and political relationship with Burma have facilitated misuse of their shared 2,000-kilometer border by drug traffickers. China has pledged cooperation in helping the Burmese fight narcotics production and has supported international programs to wean Burmese farmers away from drug production. China's success -- or its failure -- with regard to addressing the problem of Burmese drug production has serious implications for China, for the rest of Asia and for the West.

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