China's example on reducing drug cultivation in its neighborhood?

ARTICLE: "No Blowing Smoke: Poppies Fade in Southeast Asia," by Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 16 September 2007, p. WK3.

Fascinating story on the decline of poppies production in the Golden Triangle.

The untold story? China's influence. Since China is the main local market and it's seen a "spike in addicts and H.I.V. Infections from contaminated needles," apparently Beijing decided to act, using its economic muscle on Myanmar, with whom it has a decidedly mixed relationship in terms of encouraging human rights.

Still, hard to argue with the outcome. The China-Myanmar border region had accounted for 30 percent of Myanmar's poppy production in recent years. Recently it was declared poppy-free. Myanmar is still number 2 global producer of heroin, but production is down overall by 80 percent over the last decade.

China plays a big role in this, as one Dutch researcher (Martin Jelsma) on this illicit trade declares:

China has had an underestimated role. Their main leverage is economic: These border areas of Burma are by now economically much more connected to China than the rest of Burma. For local authorities, it's quite clear that, for any investments they want to attract, cooperation with China is a necessity."

Yes, we can argue about China's negative environmental impact on Myanmar, but the underlying dynamic here is real and noteworthy, and obviously a reminder to the U.S. when we think about our drug war in Latin America.

You either displace with better investment opportunities or no amount of eradication changes anything.

I doubt China has cut any domestic demand, and it's drug laws have to be as harsh as anybody's, but its investments speak more loudly.