CHINA AGREES TO ANTI-DRUG COOPERATION WITH THAILAND, MYANMAR

BANGKOK: China has agreed to cooperate with Thailand and Myanmar to
combat the flow of illegal drugs in the region, the foreign ministry
here announced on Saturday.

"The Chinese foreign minister has agreed in principle on a tripartite
cooperation with Thailand and Myanmar for drugs suppression," a
ministry statement said.

The announcement coincides with a four-day official visit by Thai
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to China that started Thursday
and which has included meetings with President Jiang Zemin and his
counterpart Tang Jiaxuan.

The minister said before the visit he would request broad cooperation
from Chinese officials on the regional narcotics trade, especially the
fight against the amphetamines which are tearing at the fabric of Thai
society.

He has specifically asked Beijing to exchange information and offer
technical assistance to combat drug production and trafficking along
the Myanmar-Thai border, an area close to China's southern Yunan province.

Thailand and China have agreed during Surakiart's visit to exchange
embassy-level anti-narcotics agents.

Beijing has already signed separate initial agreements with Bangkok
and Yangon on bilateral anti-drug cooperation.

However, Thai authorities are increasingly concerned by the flood of
amphetamines -- estimated at some 600 million pills per year -- from
the Golden Triangle drug-producing area which includes parts of
Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, and borders on southern China.

The raw chemical ingredients which go into the making of amphetamines
are often illegally imported into Thailand and Myanmar from China.

Thailand is hoping China will be able to use its influence on Myanmar
at a time when its own relations with Yangon are at a low point over a
border dispute stemming mainly from the region's lucrative drug trade.

Isolated by the international community, Myanmar has drawn close to
China, and is counting on its "big brother" to help thwart Western
sanctions, and with its failing economy.

Surakiart's visit to China is his first outside Southeast Asia since
he took up his post last month.

He is scheduled to hold anti-drug talks with Myanmar's vice foreign
minister Khin Maung Win next week in Chile on the sidelines of a
meeting between ministers of East Asian and Latin American countries.