科罗尔，帕劳 -- 帕劳总统苏兰吉尔·惠普斯 Jr. 声称，这个仅有1.8万人口的太平洋岛国正面临非法毒品涌入的冲击，这些毒品威胁着政府和社会的稳定。他说，罪魁祸首是中国公民。
KOROR, Palau -- Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. claims the Pacific island nation of just 18,000 people is under assault from an influx of illegal drugs that threaten governmental and social stability. The culprits, he says, are Chinese nationals.
“毒品一直在上升，尤其是冰毒，我们现在在帕劳关押着13名中国人，”惠普斯在其国家于8月下旬至9月初主办的太平洋岛国论坛领导人会议（PIFLM）上对记者说，他对这种情况感到沮丧，这种情况加剧了监狱拥挤问题。
"Drugs have been on the rise, especially crystal meth, and we now have 13 Chinese imprisoned in Palau," Whipps told reporters during the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIFLM) his country hosted from late August to early September, expressing exasperation at a situation that has compounded prison overcrowding.
该群岛唯一的监狱容量为65人，截至9月底，监狱关押人数达到113人，其中13名中国人占被关押总数的11.5%。根据帕劳司法部Facebook页面上的公告，去年7月至10月期间，有6名中国人因贩运、持有或试图进口非法毒品被判刑。周二，监狱总人数为107人，其中中国人为12人，占总数的11%，司法部表示。中国人是其中最大的外国国籍群体，司法部如此称。
The archipelago's only jail, with a capacity of 65 prisoners, held 113 as of the end of September, the 13 Chinese accounting for 11.5% of those incarcerated. Six Chinese nationals were sentenced between July and October last year for trafficking, possessing or attempting to import illicit drugs, according to announcements posted on Palau's Ministry of Justice's Facebook page. On Tuesday, the overall number of prisoners stood at 107, with the number of Chinese at 12, or 11% of the total, according to the ministry. Chinese made up the largest foreign nationality, it said.
帕劳是少数几个与台湾而非中国保持外交关系的国家之一，惠普斯一直对北京持批评态度。2024年，他指责中国是其国家遭受网络攻击的幕后黑手。中国外交部则反驳称，该国“坚决反对并打击一切形式的网络攻击”。
Palau is one of few countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than China and Whipps has been critical of Beijing. In 2024, he accused it of being behind a cyberattack on his country. China's foreign ministry countered that the country "firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks."
尽管惠普斯并未声称中国政府在毒品问题上有直接参与，但他对《日经亚洲》表示，这些中国公民带入的毒品是“针对帕劳市场”的，这样他们“可以在这里赚钱，并削弱我们的政府和社会结构”。在科罗尔，帕劳，一则呼吁远离毒品和酒精的标语被展出。帕劳总统苏兰吉尔·惠普斯 Jr. 已宣布2026年为该太平洋岛国官方的“拒绝非法毒品”年。
And while Whipps did not claim any direct Chinese government involvement in the drug issue, he told Nikkei Asia that what the Chinese nationals bring in is "directed at the Palau market" so they "can make money here and they can weaken our government and our social structures." A sign urging abstaining from drugs and alcohol is displayed in Koror, Palau. Presdient Surangel Whipps Jr. has declared 2026 the official Just Say No to Illegal Drugs year in the Pacific island country.
2025年5月，北马里亚纳群岛一家法院在一起涉及塞班岛、关岛和帕劳的甲基苯丙胺案件中，判处一名中国公民25年监禁。该案件起因于他逃往帕劳后，因杀害另一名中国公民被控过失杀人罪并被定罪，随后被引渡。
In May 2025, a court in the Northern Mariana Islands sentenced a Chinese national to 25 years in prison in a methamphetamine case that stretched from Saipan and Guam to Palau, where he had fled and was convicted of manslaughter in the killing of another Chinese national before being extradited. Whipps cited the case as an example of the problem's cross-border nature and called for greater cooperation and improvement in sharing information in the Pacific region to prevent such "bad actors" from entering the region "because they are destroying our youth, destabilizing our countries."
惠普斯引用此案作为问题具有跨境性质的例证，并呼吁在太平洋地区加强合作，改善信息共享，以防止此类“恶劣分子”进入该地区，“因为他们正在毒害我们的青年，动摇我们的国家。”日经亚洲已联系中国外交部和司法部寻求评论。
Nikkei Asia has reached out to China's foreign and justice ministries for comment. Palau, located east of the Philippines and north of Indonesia, is not the only Pacific country facing drug challenges, the causes of which vary.
帕劳位于菲律宾东部、印度尼西亚北部，并非唯一面临毒品挑战的太平洋国家，其原因各不相同。各国领导人承认问题的存在，并在上个月的太平洋岛国论坛领导人会议（PIFLM）公报中同意“通过加强情报共享、协调和海上安全合作，打击跨国有组织犯罪和非法毒品贩运。”帕劳司法部长詹妮弗·奥莱盖里尔表示，该国必须采取措施防止非法药物的蔓延。
The leaders recognize the problem and agreed in their PIFLM communique last month to "strengthen cooperation against transnational organized crime and illicit drug trafficking through enhanced intelligence sharing, coordination and maritime security cooperation." Jennifer Olegeriil, Palau's justice minister, says the country must take steps to prevent the spread of illegal drugs. David Manning, Papua New Guinea's police commissioner, told Nikkei Asia that while meth and its precursors brought there arrive "mostly out of Asia," the "large majority" of illegal drugs coming through is cocaine from Central and South America.
巴布亚新几内亚警察局长大卫·曼宁对日经亚洲表示，虽然运往该国的甲基苯丙胺及其前体“主要来自亚洲”，但通过该地区的非法药物中“大多数”是来自中美洲和南美洲的可卡因。
That route, commonly known as the Pacific Drug Highway, brings narcotics via yachts and semi-submersibles destined for the lucrative Australian and New Zealand markets.
该路线通常被称为“太平洋毒品公路”，通过游艇和半潜水艇将毒品运往澳大利亚和新西兰的高利润市场。澳大利亚联邦警察在5月表示，今年1月至5月期间，太平洋地区共查获17公吨非法药物（主要为可卡因），而2025年全年仅为4.6吨。
Between January and May, 17 metric tons of illicit drugs, mostly cocaine, were seized in the Pacific, compared to 4.6 tons in all of 2025, Australian Federal Police said in May. Caught in the middle of the route are small countries like Fiji, traditionally a transit point, but which is now seeing drugs on its streets.
在该路线中间的国家，如斐济，传统上是一个中转点，但现在其街道上也出现了毒品。斐济警察部队记录显示，截至2025年5月的一年内，非法毒品活动案件达2,446起，其中涉及未成年人的案件有50起。
The Fiji Police Force recorded 2,446 cases of illicit drug activity in the year to May 2025, with 50 cases involving juveniles. Driven by a sharp rise in intravenous meth use and unsanitary needle sharing.
受静脉注射甲基苯丙胺使用激增和不卫生的针具共享驱动。根据联合国艾滋病规划署的建模，自2010年以来，斐济的新增HIV感染病例估计增加了超过3,000%。它正面临着全球增长最快的HIV疫情，卫生当局在9月宣布全国进入HIV紧急状态——HIV是导致艾滋病的病毒。卫生部表示，目前每60名成年人中就有1人感染HIV。
Fiji has seen an estimated increase of more than 3,000% in new HIV infections since 2010, according to UNAIDS modelling. It faces the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the world, with health authorities in September declaring a national emergency for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. One in every 60 adults now has HIV, says the Ministry of Health. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime signage at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau.
在帕劳举行的太平洋岛国论坛领导人会议上，联合国毒品和犯罪问题办公室的标识可见。其他太平洋岛国也面临着非法毒品带来的挑战。
Other Pacific island countries also face challenges with illegal drugs. Jennifer Olegeriil, Palau's justice minister, sees Fiji as a cautionary tale, saying it could be her country in five to 10 years.
帕劳司法部长詹妮弗·奥莱杰里尔认为斐济是一个警示故事，她说斐济的情况可能在5到10年后成为她们国家的现状。她说：“如果我们此时不进行适当的干预，我们可能会达到那个地步，我们需要大力开展这项工作。”
"We can reach that point if we do not do the proper intervention at this point, and we need to do it big." Virginia Comolli, head of the Pacific Program at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, said Chinese criminal groups are exploiting opportunities in Palau, as it "presents a combination of characteristics that can make it attractive to transnational criminal networks."
全球反跨国有组织犯罪倡议组织太平洋项目负责人维吉尼亚·科莫利表示，中国犯罪集团正在利用帕劳的机遇，因为帕劳“具备一系列特征，使其对跨国犯罪网络具有吸引力。”这些特征包括其靠近亚洲以及“有限的执法、边境管控和监管能力。”根据特别检察官办公室的信息，2020年，57名中国公民在帕劳因非法经营无证赌博酒店并逃税被定罪，随后在执法部门对该酒店进行网络赌博突袭后被驱逐出境。
Those include its proximity to Asia and "limited law-enforcement, border-control and regulatory capacity." In 2020, 57 Chinese nationals were convicted in Palau and later expelled after law enforcement conducted an online gambling raid at a hotel they were operating in without a license and without paying taxes, according to the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Other similar incidents have followed, including a police raid in January 2025 that uncovered an online gambling and scamming operation involving 9 Chinese nationals working in a hotel who were later deported, according to a 2025 National Security Coordination Office (NSCO) report.
其他类似事件随后发生，包括2025年1月的一起警方突袭，该行动揭露了一起涉及9名在酒店工作的中国公民的在线赌博和诈骗行动，这些人后来被驱逐出境，根据2025年国家安全协调办公室（NSCO）报告。帕劳本地报纸《岛屿时报》警告甲基苯丙胺使用的危害。
An in local newspaper Island Times in Palau warns of the dangers of methamphetamine use. While Chinese or Chinese-speaking criminal networks have also conducted similar activities across Southeast Asia "what makes Palau particularly significant is the scale of this activity relative to the country's very small population and institutional capacity," Comolli told Nikkei Asia.
虽然中国或华语犯罪网络也在东南亚其他地区开展了类似活动，“但使帕劳尤为重要的是，该活动的规模相对于该国极小的人口和制度能力而言非常大，”科莫利对日经亚洲说道。
John Hennessey-Niland, a former U.S. ambassador to Palau, said Chinese criminal organizations have long been active in the country and "really are a menace to the people here, and to good governance and stability," specifically through cybercrime.
前美国驻帕劳大使约翰·亨内西-尼兰德表示，中国犯罪组织长期活跃在该国，“他们真的对这里的人们构成威胁，也威胁到良好治理和稳定”，具体表现在网络犯罪方面。
"They realize that because Palau doesn't have official relations with Beijing, this may be a more benign place to operate," he told Nikkei Asia.
他对日经亚洲说：“他们意识到，由于帕劳与北京没有官方关系，这里可能是一个相对更安全的运营场所。”“由于帕劳承认台湾，中国警方和当局的长臂管辖可能在这里更难以触及，因此他们可能觉得这里是一个完美的据点。”
"The long reach of Chinese police and authorities may be a little bit harder to get to here because Palau recognizes Taiwan, so they may have felt this is a perfect spot." Olegeriil said she knows where the drugs come from, but did not identify the location.
奥莱杰里尔说她知道毒品的来源，但未透露具体位置。“我执行法律，所以我处理数据并追踪线索，我追踪毒品的来源，我追踪资金的流入，这把我引向了一个特定的国家和来源，”她说。“我没有看到其他线索指向其他地方。”专家表示，帕劳对旅游业的开放也使其成为非法毒品走私的易感目标。（ 箱将毒品带入该国。
"I enforce the law, so I deal with numbers and I follow the leads, I follow where the drugs come from, I follow where the money's coming in from, and it's leading me to one specific country and origin," she said. "I haven't seen any other leads taking me somewhere else." Experts says Palau's openness to tourism has also made it vulnerable to the smuggling of illicit drugs. (Source photos by Sophie Mak) She added that smugglers bring drugs in suitcases, on their persons, through parcels delivered to the post office, drop offs on outer islands and containers on commercial cargo vehicles. Graeme Smith, senior fellow at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs, cited Palau's ease of entry as an issue. "That is part of the problem of a lot of tourism-dependent Pacific countries, in that you rely on Chinese tourists, but you also rely on them being truthful when they enter the country.
澳大利亚国立大学太平洋事务部高级研究员格雷厄姆·史密斯指出，帕劳入境便利是一个问题。他说：“这是许多依赖旅游业的太平洋国家面临的问题之一，即你依赖中国游客，但同时也依赖他们在入境时如实申报。这是一个巨大的漏洞。”根据移民局数据，中国目前是帕劳最大的单一旅游客源国，2026年首8个月录得20,792名中国游客，占国际游客总数的三分之一以上。
That's a big vulnerability." China is currently Palau's largest single source of tourists, with 20,792 Chinese visitors recorded in the first 8 months of 2026, making up over one-third of total international visitors, according to Bureau of Immigration data. There has been some cooperation with authorities in China.
帕劳方面与中国当局有过一些合作。根据2025年NSCO报告，帕劳与澳门的情报共享揭露了一个在该地区运作的跨境贩毒集团，并在中国特别行政区香港和澳门进行了多次逮捕，阻止了3.4千克甲基苯丙胺进入帕劳。
Intelligence sharing by Palau with Macao uncovered a cross-border drug trafficking syndicate operating in the region and several arrests were made in the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, preventing 3.4 kilograms of meth from entering the Pacific country, according to the 2025 NSCO report. Nancy Wong, a member of women's group Mechesil Belau, says stopping Palau's drug problem requires unity.
妇女组织Mechesil Belau成员南希·黄表示，解决帕劳的毒品问题需要团结。
But Comolli said that while "evidence points to an increasingly important Chinese dimension to methamphetamine trafficking in Palau, particularly since 2024," other drug sources, including from the Philippines, the U.S. and Guam, still play a role.
但科莫利指出，虽然“证据表明自2024年以来，中国在帕劳甲基苯丙胺贩运中的作用日益重要”，但其他毒品来源，包括菲律宾、美国和关岛，仍然发挥着作用。
Olegeriil said illicit drugs are now gradually permeating Palauan society, with the customer base broadening.
奥莱杰里尔表示，非法毒品如今正逐渐渗透帕劳社会，消费群体也在扩大。贩毒者“将毒品拆分成不同成分，使其对不同人群更易获取、更实惠。”Mechesil Belau成员南希·黄向《日经亚洲》透露，该组织是帕劳著名的妇女团体，她说成瘾问题“正在恶化”，导致生产力下降、盗窃和抢劫增加以及家庭破裂。
Sellers are "breaking it into components, which are more accessible and more affordable to different groups of the population." Nancy Wong, a member of Mechesil Belau, a prominent Palau women's group, told Nikkei Asia addiction has been "getting worse," contributing to a loss of productivity, an increase in thefts and robberies and families being torn apart. In January, Whipps declared 2026 as the year to Just Say No to Illegal Drugs and launched a national working group in February to coordinate a unified response.
一月份，惠普斯宣布2026年为“拒绝非法毒品”年，并在二月成立国家工作组，以协调统一应对。他在五月签署了一项法案，扩大了毒品检测范围并加重了严重毒品相关罪行的处罚。
He signed a bill in May that expands drug testing and increases penalties for serious drug-related offenses. Palau is also beefing up border security, from investing in airport X-ray machines to stationing narcotics officers in post offices.
帕劳也在加强边境安全，从投资机场X光机到在邮局部署缉毒警员。六月，日本向帕劳交付了新型毒品检测设备，扩大了其在不同入境点的海关筛查能力。美国也提供了缉毒犬。
In June, Japan delivered new drug detection devices, expanding Palau's customs screening capabilities at different points of entry. The U.S. has also provided drug-sniffing dogs. "We're sending a message out there that Palau is a nation of laws, and we are going to not just sit idly by while foreign influences come and bring the drugs to try and destroy our communities," Olegeriil said.
“我们要向外界传达一个信息：帕劳是一个法治国家，我们不会坐视外国势力来到这里，把毒品带进来试图毁掉我们的社区，”奥莱格里尔说。“这就是我的信息：我们将追究你们的责任。”但她表示，仅靠检测和拦截不足以解决问题，这需要政府和社会采取“全包性方法”。这意味着要加强学校关于毒品危害的教育，并在医院实施成瘾治疗和咨询项目。合作伙伴也提供了帮助，台湾今年早些时候为31个支持禁毒倡议的社区组织提供了资助。
"This is my message: we're coming after you." But detection and interdiction are not enough to solve the problem, which requires an "all-inclusive approach" by government and society, she said. That means reinforcing education in schools about drug harms and implementing addiction treatment and counseling programs in hospitals. Partners have been helpful, with Taiwan funding grants for 31 community organizations supporting antidrug initiatives earlier this year. Mechesil Belau's Wong noted the challenge but expressed confidence.
贝劳的梅切希尔·王指出了挑战，但表达了信心。“我们是一个小国家。这个问题可以被遏制或根除，但需要每个人的参与。”
"We're a small country. It can be contained or eradicated, but it takes everybody."