China’s Ministry of Public Security opposed the US decision to impose a 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports\u2014along with larger tariffs for Canada and Mexico\u2014warning that this would damage bilateral cooperation on fentanyl control.<\/p>\n
According to Washington, the tariffs are aimed at countering the influx of opioids and other drugs, including fentanyl.<\/p>\n
\u2018The root cause of the fentanyl crisis in the US lies within itself,\u2019 the Chinese ministry said in a statement on Sunday night. Reducing domestic drug demand and strengthening co-operation with law enforcement agencies are the key solutions,\u2019 the ministry said in a statement on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
\u2018Shifting the blame to other countries will not really help solve the problem, and will seriously damage the cooperation and trust between China and the US in the field of drug control,\u2019 the statement added.<\/p>\n
The statement pointed to the two countries’ \u201cextensive practical co-operation\u201d on drug control and the \u201cconcrete progress\u201d made in recent years, including the exchange of intelligence and drug detection technology. It emphasized that the listing of controlled substances, case cooperation, and the cleaning up of online advertising are areas that have benefited from joint efforts. \u2018The results are obvious to everyone,\u2019 the ministry said.<\/p>\n
According to the statement, China became the first country in the world to classify all fentanyl-related substances as controlled substances in 2019, despite the drug not being widely abused within the country.<\/p>\n
This step was taken at the request of the US, which has not yet taken a similar step, the ministry said. \u2018Following the listing of the entire category, China has not received any notification from the US that such substances have been seized in China,\u2019 it said.<\/p>\n
\u2018China calls on the US to correct its wrong practices, maintain the hard-won favorable atmosphere in China-US anti-drug cooperation, and promote the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations,\u2019 the ministry said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Manipulation\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
China’s state media also got involved, with Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, criticizing the US for using the fentanyl issue to justify tariffs. \u2018This is actually a political manipulation to divert domestic tensions,\u2019 it said.<\/p>\n
\u2018This is not only contrary to the facts and will not be a credible threat. It will only backfire on US economic interests and global drug control co-operation.\u2019<\/p>\n
In the social media post, quoting people familiar with the matter, it was stated that China has actively helped the US to control the fentanyl problem and has achieved remarkable results in China-US drug control cooperation.<\/p>\n
Elaborating on the Ministry of Public Security’s statement, the post said that the root of the fentanyl problem in the US \u2018lies in the excessive marketing of the domestic pharmaceutical industry, gaps in medical supervision, and social drug culture\u2019.<\/p>\n
It was also noted that \u2018according to US judicial statistics, 86 percent of those convicted of fentanyl trafficking in fiscal year 2023 were US citizens\u2019.<\/p>\n
Narcotics co-operation<\/b><\/p>\n
Despite growing tensions, narcotics control has been one of the few areas of co-operation between the two powers. In 2019, Chinese and US law enforcement agencies announced that they were working together to dismantle a smuggling ring.<\/p>\n
The cooperative approach fizzled during the Covid-19 pandemic as geopolitical headwinds brought bilateral relations down to their lowest level in decades but was revitalized after the 2023 summit between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
The resulting talks between the two countries, which resumed last year, were praised by the Chinese ministry as an example of successful counter-narcotics and law enforcement co-operation.<\/p>\n
The high-level talks in June followed a breakthrough in bilateral anti-drug efforts in which a major drug-related money laundering operation was successfully jointly dismantled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China’s Ministry of Public Security opposed the US decision to impose a 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports\u2014along with larger tariffs for Canada and Mexico\u2014warning that this would damage bilateral cooperation on fentanyl control. According to Washington, the tariffs are aimed at countering the influx of opioids and other drugs, including fentanyl. \u2018The root […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5872,598,529,5870,5863,5864,3971,5862,5868,457,2866,5866,1673,5871,5865,5869,5867,2360,821,786],"class_list":["post-7588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","tag-anti-drug-efforts","tag-bilateral-relations","tag-china","tag-drug-abuse","tag-drug-control","tag-drug-cooperation","tag-drug-trafficking","tag-fentanyl","tag-fentanyl-crisis","tag-joe-biden","tag-law-enforcement","tag-ministry-of-public-security","tag-money-laundering","tag-narcotics","tag-opioids","tag-pharmaceutical-industry","tag-political-manipulation","tag-tariffs","tag-us","tag-xi-jinping"],"yoast_head":"\n