Russian, Chinese Border Guards to Oppose Smuggling, Illegal Migration Jointly

A delegation of border guards from the General Group for Public Safety of the Chinese province of Czilin has arrived on an official visit to the Primorye Territory of Russia. Colonel General Pavel Tarasenko, Director of the Pacific Regional Agency of the Federal Border Service and Lui Ven Uang, the head of the General Group for Public Safety met and had a talk in Vladivostok.

After the meeting, Pavel Tarasenko said at a press conference that the principal problems included the illegal migration into Russia of Chinese poachers. Also, since the beginning of this year, Russia's border guards have stopped 30 attempts of smuggling for a total value of slightly less than USD 200,000. Thirteen Chinese citizens were detained for illegal fishing and 38 Chinese tourist never returned home. Most often, people who come as tourists and become illegal immigrants get also engaged in other illegal activities. The smuggling of meat and liquor also grows.

In his reply, Lui Ven Uang said Chinese border guards would toughen their service on the border between the two countries and everything the Russian colleagues had said would be carefully noted.

The parties also discussed the results of their joint work, determined the areas of cooperation for the year 2003, and signed a joint protocol concerning their continued joint activities.