Director Mueller meeting with State Councillor/Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang, People's Republic of China; Director General Hidehiko Sato, National Police Agency of Japan, and Director Mueller.

04/28/04

BUILDING A NETWORK AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND CRIME
Director Mueller Confers with Colleagues in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Tokyo

Have you noticed how much crime has changed, even in just the past 5 years?

You don't have to look very far past the violent and property crimes that plague local communities to see that criminals from Nigeria are reaching for your wallet through your own home computer...that Russian mafia are eying your credit cards...and that Colombian and Asian drug traffickers are finding ways to offer illegal drugs to your children. Then there are the ones you can't see but know are out there in the world, all focused on money and mayhem: terrorists, spies, and international traffickers.

This is not just a U.S. problem. It's an international problem, one unique in the history of the world--and it is challenging the heads of today's international law enforcement agencies to work shoulder to shoulder against common, pervasive threats.

Last week Director Mueller traveled to Asia with Assistant Director Grant Ashley to get down to specifics with colleagues on issues like terrorism, cyber crimes, money laundering, intellectual property rights, and international organized crime.

First stop, Beijing--meeting with State Councillor/Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang, Vice Minister of Public Security Zhao Yongji, Vice Minister of Justice Zhang Jun, Supreme People's Procuratorate Vice Minister Sun Qian, and Vice Minister of State Security Zhou Qing.

Second stop, Hong Kong--meeting with Secretary of Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong, Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie, and Acting Police Commissioner Gordon Fung, and addressing Hong Kong's American Chamber of Commerce.

Third stop, Tokyo--meeting with Secretary General for the Liberal Democratic Party Office Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Yukio Takeuchi, Supreme Public Prosecutor Akio Harada, and National Police Agency Director General Hidehiko Sato, among others.

What was on the agenda?

Many discussions were specific to each location, centered on ongoing cases, threat assessments, and joint operations and programs. But many more focused on issues common to all, ones that go to the very heart of building an international policing network that will most effectively, under the rule of law, prevent terrorist attacks, dismantle criminal networks, and bring criminals and terrorists to justice. Things like:

1. Sharing information on threats, criminal cases, and terrorist investigations.
2. Enabling extraditions and renditions of fugitives.
3. Exchanging investigators to share expertise in joint investigations.
4. Training investigators in advanced, high tech and other crimes.

As Director Mueller said in Hong Kong, "The era of global threats has moved the Bureau in an era of global partnerships. The clear-cut divisions of responsibility and jurisdiction that once existed between agencies--and even between the United States and other countries--are becoming less and less relevant. We cannot defeat international terrorism, for example, without the help of old World War II allies and even Cold War opponents."