Disputes - international:
demarcation of the land boundary with China continues, but maritime
boundary and joint fishing zone agreement remains unratified;
Cambodia and Laos protest Vietnamese squatters and armed
encroachments along border; China occupies Paracel Islands also
claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; involved in a complex dispute over
Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and
possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the "Declaration
on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea", a mechanism to
ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding "code of
conduct"
Illicit drugs:
minor producer of opium poppy; probable minor transit point for
Southeast Asian heroin; domestic opium/heroin/methamphetamine
addiction problems