China says US fentanyl sanctions are 'smears and suppression' just days after apparent agreement to work with Washington
South China Morning Post
4 min read
China has voiced its "strong dissatisfaction" against sanctions on companies and individuals accused of helping to fuel the fentanyl crisis in the United States.
The comments came just days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the two countries had agreed to explore a working group on stemming the flow of chemicals that can be used to make the drug to Mexico.
Before 2019, China was believed to be the main source of illicit fentanyl entering the US before Beijing imposed stricter export controls at Washington's request.
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Since then, although the final production capacity has largely moved to countries like Mexico, the US has said China remains the main source for key ingredients and has targeted those it accuses of being involved in their supply.
Beijing has always strongly denied involvement and said that it is a "domestic" problem for the US.
On Wednesday, Yu Haibin, deputy head of the National Narcotics Control Commission, told a press conference: "China expresses strong dissatisfaction with the United States' repeated use of the drug issue as a reason to sanction Chinese businesses and citizens, thereby smearing and suppressing China."
Yu accused Washington of "continuously hyping" the flow of Chinese chemicals into Mexico and insisted China had fulfilled its international obligations and taken the lead in regulating an entire class of fentanyl substances.
"The US claims that the precursors to fentanyl processed in Mexico originate from China, but the chemicals and related equipment involved are not regulated under international narcotics conventions or the laws of China and Mexico," Yu said.
He also said that items mentioned in US sanctions such as "tablet presses, capsule filling machines and tablet press moulds" are also not subject to regulations but are instead classed as "common goods".
Two days earlier, Blinken said he had raised the issue of synthetic opioids as a "priority" during his two-day visit to Beijing.
Yu Haibin, deputy director of the Office of China National Narcotics Control Commission, said the US was "hyping" the flow of Chinese chemicals to Mexico. Photo: AP alt=Yu Haibin, deputy director of the Office of China National Narcotics Control Commission, said the US was "hyping" the flow of Chinese chemicals to Mexico. Photo: AP>
"I made clear that we need much greater cooperation to address this critical issue," he told a press conference at the US Embassy on Monday.
"We agreed to explore setting up a working group or joint effort so that we can shut off the flow of precursor chemicals, which helped fuel this crisis and a growing number of deaths."
The Chinese foreign ministry said the two sides had agreed to continue processing consultations through working groups "to address specific issues".
Earlier this month, the two countries resumed talks on drug control cooperation after a 10-month hiatus, when Zhao Junning, deputy director of China's National Medical Products Administration, and Andi Fristedt, a deputy commissioner at the US Food and Drug Administration, met in Beijing.
Fentanyl - and the wider fight against the international drugs trade - had long been seen as a key area where the two countries could continue cooperation despite growing tensions in other areas.
Opioid overdoses are blamed for causing tens of thousands of deaths in the US each year.
Deaths related to fentanyl alone rose from 5.7 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 21.6 in 2021, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
It followed similar sanctions in April targeting two Chinese companies and four nationals for allegedly supplying precursor chemicals to Mexican-based cartels.
But Yu said: "The primary oversight responsibility for preventing the diversion of precursor chemicals lies with the authorities of the importing country.
"China-US cooperation on drug control should be conducted under the legal framework of their domestic law, and bilateral law enforcement cooperation should be carried out in line with the rule of law."
