U.S., CHINA TO JOIN IN FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

McCaffrey Announces Pact On Visit To Beijing

BEIJING - The first U.S. anti-drug czar to visit China announced
yesterday that the two countries have signed an unprecedented
agreement to share intelligence and evidence in combating the
narcotics trade and related crimes.

Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, the White House national drug policy
director, said U.S. law enforcement agencies will begin working more
closely with their Chinese counterparts to ferret out international
crime rings dealing drugs, laundering money and smuggling arms.

McCaffrey held out the possibility of opening an FBI office in
Beijing, which would require an unusually high level of cooperation
between two nations often on edge in their joint ties.

"We want to see an FBI presence in China," as there is in such
countries as Russia and Mexico, McCaffrey told reporters after two
days of talks in the Chinese capital.

His is the first of two high-profile visits to China this week by
members of President Clinton's Cabinet. Secretary of State Madeleine
K. Albright is expected to hold talks Thursday and Friday.

From Beijing, McCaffrey will head to the southern Chinese city of
Kunming and to Hong Kong. The retired army general's four-day China
swing is part of a three-nation tour that also will take him to
Vietnam and Thailand. The purpose is to promote international efforts
to curb the heavy drug traffic emanating from the so-called Golden
Triangle countries of Southeast Asia, where opium poppies are cultivated.

Southern China is a major conduit for drugs from the region - mostly
heroin and cocaine.