Chinese border police have called for more international cooperation to stop stowaways and assist in the rounding up of people smugglers.

More people smugglers are operating around the globe and the failure of overseas governments to hunt them down has greatly influenced the frequency of people smuggling cases, according to Deng Benyuan, a senior border police officer in east China's Fujian Province.

"We want to exchange more information with our overseas counterparts and strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation in an effort to try and stamp out people smuggling all together," he said.

At a press conference on Friday, Deng said the number of people sneaking into Taiwan Province and foreign countries from the mainland had climbed in recent years.

This year, a total of 2,225 people were sent back from Taiwan to Fujian -- an increase of 40 percent over last year.

And 205 people were sent back from foreign countries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Malaysia.

"The people came from at least 20 provinces and regions around China and women are accounting for a larger percentage than ever before," Deng said.

Most of the women who were smuggled to Taiwan were then forced to work in the sex industry, he said.

Deng said people smuggling is not easily stopped as many people wanting to live elsewhere have relatives overseas to turn to.

In addition, some Western countries have double standards when dealing with illegal emigrants, based on political and economic reasons, which entices people to try their luck, Deng said.

Despite facing an uphill battle, border police have not spared any efforts in targeting people smugglers and their cargoes this year.

Statistics show police have cracked 262 cases and captured 1,456 suspects so far, respectively 15 and 30 percent higher than last year.

(China Daily December 27, 2003)