China, ASEAN should reinforce joint force to combat transnational crimes: Chinese procurator-general

By Han Qiao, Li Qing

China and the ASEAN should actively improve the cooperation mechanism and reinforce joint force to combat transnational and trans-regional crimes, said Chinese procurator-general Cao Jianming in an interview with Xinhua during an ongoing regional conference here.

Cao, Procurator-General of China's Supreme People's Procuratorate, made the remarks on the sidelines of the Sixth China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference running from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Cao said procuratorial organs of China and the ten ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries have expanded cooperation since the last conference in Manila last year. The two sides have enhanced mutual dialogues, carried out close exchanges, improved mechanism and expanded cooperation methods.

This year's conference in Hanoi is themed in "Strengthening cooperation in mutual legal assistance in criminal matters to effectively combat transnational organized crimes". Cao said this is another practical action to push forward and implement the mechanism of overall cooperation.

Speaking of the development of criminal activities in the world, Cao said no changes have happened in such features as regionalization, internationalization and systemization. China and the ASEAN should not neglect serious threats like terrorism, international drug trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling on regional stability and development.

The procurator-general made four proposals to further enhance the China-ASEAN cooperation and promote stability and prosperity of regional economy and social order.

First, Cao said China and the ASEAN should maintain regular dialogues between top officials on joint cracking down on transnational and trans-regional crimes.

Second, he said the two sides should continuously improve the comprehensive cooperation mechanism and the mechanism of overall mutual assistance in criminal matters, offer each other legal assistance to the largest extent and form a joint force to combat transnational crimes.

Third, he called for the two sides to deepen international cooperation on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering and promote the establishment of healthy and orderly regional international financial system and contribute to a good economic trend.

Fourth, Cao said China and the ASEAN should deepen judicial cooperation in the non-traditional security field, like international drug trafficking, terrorism and pirate. The two sides should increase information exchange, training on law enforcement and cooperation in executing the law.

Cao said the China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference mechanism is one of the important dialogue mechanisms for China and the ASEAN to carry out all-round cooperation on the basis of a strategic partnership aiming at peace and prosperity.

It is the desire of procuratorial organs of China to further actively expand the cooperation scope, enrich the cooperation work and upgrade the cooperation level with their counterparts of all ASEAN countries, he said.

The China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference was initiated by China's Supreme People's Procuratorate in 2004. The aim of the conference is to strengthen exchange and cooperation among prosecution services of China and ASEAN countries.

Source: Xinhua