Cutting off Early Exposure to Drugs

Qianjiang Evening News

June 27

In recent years, the average age of drug addicts in China has decreased, meaning that teenagers are now the most at-risk group. As teens are still not fully mature in terms of physical and psychological growth, an addiction to illegal substances can result in many unfortunate outcomes. Therefore, cutting off early exposure to drugs has become an urgent need in the country's anti-narcotic push.

Drug dealers attract teenagers by taking advantage of their curiosity. Some even prey on teens to help smuggle and sell drugs. It's far from easy to uncover and prevent these and other drug crimes. Society and schools must educate children and teenagers on the harmful side effects of drugs, and teach them to lead active and healthy lifestyles. As entertainment venues are increasingly used by drug sellers, the government should strengthen supervision of activities there.

Security Services Going Global

Oriental Outlook

June 26

Many imagined security threats faced by Chinese companies abroad are becoming reality, from Chinese merchant ships being hijacked to factories being attacked and employees kidnapped. When "going global," difficulties can be expected to be encountered in any country where Chinese companies relocate.

So how are Chinese companies tackling these security risks abroad? Most of them alert the police, ask Chinese embassies for help, or call on the local government to intervene when a safety incident occurs.

Some companies, though, are more far-sighted. They try to build up a good rapport with locals by donating to schools and hospitals, or by helping religious leaders and chiefs of tribes build infrastructure and, thus, mutual trust.

Though confronted with multiple security threats, most Chinese companies abroad, especially small and medium-sized ones, don't want to employ local security guards, who provide effective protection but charge high prices.

More than 20 years after Chinese companies began setting up overseas factories, providing all-around services for them has recently become an urgent need, most notably in the area of safety.

Abe Undermines Regional Security

Xinhua News Agency

July 1

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is leading his country down a dangerous path as his cabinet approved a so-called constitutional "reinterpretation," essentially gutting Japan's pacifist charter, on July 1. The resolution overturned the ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense and paved the way for Japanese forces to fight abroad in defense of "countries with close ties."

The Japanese general public is clear-eyed and alarmed. Poll after poll has shown that most Japanese are opposed to Abe's attempt to water down the Constitution. Demonstrations against tampering with the bedrock constitutional principles have taken place across the country, and in Tokyo a man even set himself on fire in protest.

Yet the public opinion failed to shame Abe out of his scheme. He has chosen to turn a deaf ear to the voices of the people and gone ahead through questionable means: Instead of amending the Constitution above board, a broad-based process that his bid is unlikely to survive, he has opted to reinterpret it with a single decision of his cabinet.

No matter how Abe paints over it, he is dallying with the specter of war through a cheap trick but at the potential cost of the souls of the entire Japanese nation. For with the limits on the use of force for collective self-defense vaguely defined, Japan might be thrown into undeserved wars by some hot-headed or near-sighted politicians at the top.

His action also poses a menace to regional security, particularly given his refusal to face up to Japan's historical aggressions. On the broader background, Asia is already plagued with simmering tensions in the wake of the United States' "pivot to Asia" and the increasing bellicosity of the opportunistic likes of Japan and the Philippines, among other challenges and uncertainties.

With the constitutional runaround, the Abe administration is adding more variables to the already daunting task of safeguarding regional peace and stability. It is high time the Japanese people and the international community brought Abe back to his senses and stopped him from further undermining regional security.