China, Vietnam reap rewards from law-enforcement cooperation

Vietnamese police hand over an economic suspect to their Chinese counterparts, October 20, 2017. Photo: People’s Daily

Police from China and Vietnam have yielded considerable results from their intensified cooperation on counter-terrorism, crackdown of drugs and human trafficking, fight against telecoms fraud, hunt for fugitives, as well as other law-enforcement operations.

The Vietnamese police, on October 18 and 20, handed over two economic suspects that fled to Vietnam to the border city of Pingxiang, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

A Vietnamese drug dealer was also transferred by the Chinese police to their Vietnamese partners at the same place this August, serving as another proof of bilateral pragmatic cooperation on law-enforcement.

Since the start of 2017, a total of 24 delegations have been organized by both sides for reciprocal visits, and nine training courses were offered by China to 77 Vietnamese police, Zhao Wanpeng, police counselor of the Chinese Embassy to Vietnam, told the People’s Daily.

Coordinated by the embassy, Vietnam handed over 23 fugitives to China during the same period, while China transferred 15 to Vietnam, Zhao said, adding that both sides also coordinated on 92 cases.

Cooperation in border areas is on a rise as well. During a meeting on law-enforcement cooperation among border areas hosted in Nanning, Guangxi in December 2016, the two sides agreed to push collaboration on global law-enforcement to a new high by cooperating more on protection key infrastructure projects and fight against telecoms fraud.

They also agreed to work closer to crack down on drug trafficking, illegal immigration, human trafficking, economic crimes, the illicit trade of firearms and ammunition, and repatriate fugitives who fled overseas.

Such closer cooperation can be attributed to the clear direction pointed out by leaders of both countries, who have reached a broad consensus on deepening security collaboration during their frequent mutual visits.