US to Help Halt Chinese Drug Trafficking in Pacific Nations

The United States will help tackle illicit drug trafficking in the Pacific Islands, a region that has become a node for the drug trade from China to the United States, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Thursday. Campbell made the announcement in Vanuatu at the formal launch of the U.S. embassy in Port Vila, which opened last month. Plagued with an opioid crisis that led to tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually, the United States has criticized 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....