US to step up work with Pacific nations to halt drug trafficking

US to step up work with Pacific nations to halt drug trafficking

By Kirsty Needham

The United States will work with Pacific Island nations to rein in drug trafficking by criminal networks from China, which use the region as a way station for narcotics exports to the U.S., Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Thursday.

Grappling with a spike in overdose deaths, the United States has frequently criticised Chinese firms for their role in the global fentanyl supply chain, while island nations Fiji and Tonga have seen a rise in methamphetamine seizures this year.

The United States is determined to assist on the drug front and will make an announcement next week on law enforcement regarding drugs in the Pacific, an issue that increasingly troubles regional leaders, Campbell said.

"We are concerned some of the networks that have grown in China and South East Asia are beginning to use the Pacific for transhipment both to Latin America and the United States," he told reporters in Vanuatu.

"Many of our partners in the Pacific want to work with us to try to get a handle on that."

The United States could help with efforts in areas such as drug interdiction, treatment and prevention, he added.

Campbell was in Vanuatu to formally open the U.S. embassy, a day after meeting leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga.

The Solomon Islands, which struck a security pact with China under its previous leader, wants to re-engage with the United States, Campbell said after meeting Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele, who was elected in May.

Campbell also met China's Pacific envoy Qian Bo in Tonga on Wednesday, and said they discussed finding areas of co-operation in the Pacific, such as a climate change project, which he said regional leaders had welcomed.

"Many of those countries want to see the United States and China keeping lines of communication open and finding potential, even if they are only narrow, areas of possible co-operation or engagement," he said.

"The Pacific has made clear that it does not want to be in a battle or a battle zone between conflicting large powers and we respect that."

The United States was working to offer financing for small business to revive tourism, hospital infrastructure and telecoms links in Vanuatu, he said, to ensure Pacific Island countries a choice of partners.

China is Vanuatu's largest external creditor after a decade of infrastructure construction by its companies.

On Wednesday, the Pacific Island Forum backed an Australian-funded A$400-million ($271-million) plan to improve police training in the region and create a mobile policing unit.

Australia has previously said it was concerned at China's growing police presence in the region, and boosting the capability of Pacific police will reduce the need for Chinese police.