Human trafficking and smuggling of migrants: Four of the 12 illicit flows reviewed in this report involve human beings. The first two concern movement between the countries of the region, one for general labour and one for sexual exploitation. The third concerns the smuggling of migrants from the region to the rich countries of the West, and the last focuses on migrants smuggled through the region from the poor and conflicted countries of South and Southwest Asia. Drug trafficking: The production and use of opiates has a long history in the region, but the main opiate problem in the 21st century involves the more refined form of the drug: heroin. In addition, methamphetamine has been a threat in parts of East Asia for decades (in the form of yaba tablets), but crystal methamphetamine has recently grown greatly in popularity. Virtually every country in the region has some crystal methamphetamine users, and some populations consume at very high levels.Resources: Resource-related crimes include those related to both extractive industries, such as the illegal harvesting of wildlife and timber, and other crimes that have a negative impact on the environment, such as the dumping of e-waste and the trade in ozone-depleting substances. In all cases, the threat goes beyond borders, jeopardizing the global environmental heritage. These are therefore crimes of inherent international significance, though they are frequently dealt with lightly under local legislation.Counterfeit goods: The trade in counterfeit goods is often perceived as a "soft" form of crime, but can have dangerous consequences for public health and safety. Fraudulent medicines in particular pose a threat to public health, and their use can foster the growth of treatment resistant pathogens.

Human trafficking and smuggling of migrants: Four of the 12 illicit flows reviewed in this report involve human beings. The first two concern movement between the countries of the region, one for general labour and one for sexual exploitation. The third concerns the smuggling of migrants from the region to the rich countries of the West, and the last focuses on migrants smuggled through the region from the poor and conflicted countries of South and Southwest Asia. Drug trafficking: The production and use of opiates has a long history in the region, but the main opiate problem in the 21st century involves the more refined form of the drug: heroin. In addition, methamphetamine has been a threat in parts of East Asia for decades (in the form of yaba tablets), but crystal methamphetamine has recently grown greatly in popularity. Virtually every country in the region has some crystal methamphetamine users, and some populations consume at very high levels.Resources: Resource-related crimes include those related to both extractive industries, such as the illegal harvesting of wildlife and timber, and other crimes that have a negative impact on the environment, such as the dumping of e-waste and the trade in ozone-depleting substances. In all cases, the threat goes beyond borders, jeopardizing the global environmental heritage. These are therefore crimes of inherent international significance, though they are frequently dealt with lightly under local legislation.Counterfeit goods: The trade in counterfeit goods is often perceived as a "soft" form of crime, but can have dangerous consequences for public health and safety. Fraudulent medicines in particular pose a threat to public health, and their use can foster the growth of treatment resistant pathogens.

Security issues have traditionally been defined in military terms, yet the post-Cold War security landscape contains numerous non-military challenges to security. In this 2001 analysis, Alan Dupont argues that an emerging new class of non-military threats has the potential to destabilize East Asia and reverse decades of hard-won economic and social development. He shows that these transnational shifts must be grasped and dealt with by governments and non-government organizations both regionally, and internationally, if conflict is to be avoided. Transnational threats stem from overpopulation, deforestation and pollution, global warming, unregulated population movements, transnational crime, virulent new strains of infectious diseases and other issues not previously associated with international security. Collectively they represent a new agenda and pose novel challenges for foreign and defence policy. This highly informative, compelling and authoritative book is essential reading for East Asia specialists and makes a significant contribution to international security debates.

This book examines the impact of Asian transnational organised crime on the United States. It looks into the structure, activity, and harms of Asian transnational organised crime -- including the multiple criminal groups and organisations involved (secret societies, tongs, triads, gangs, drug cartels, criminal networks, etc.), the multiple goods and services that constitute criminal markets (drug production and trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, money laundering, and the violence attendant to these crimes), and the multiple nations and national components (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, and Cambodia in addition to the United States) that might be involved.

The research goals of this study were to: (a) determine high priority areas for research on Asian transnational organized crime (TOC); (b) assess the impact of Asian TOC on the U.S.; (3) identify relevant data and information sources in Asia; and (4) identify potential collaborative research partners and institutions in Asia. The aim was thus not to examine in detail the organized crime situation in this region, but rather to lay the foundation for a research agenda and strategy that would accomplish that purpose. The sites covered by this research are China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia. Includes recommendations for further collaborative research. Illustrations.