Chinese officials distributed copies of the document to the press on Wednesday and widely reiterated their commitment to the fight against drugs. Drew Thompson, a senior researcher at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, expressed that "Trump really cares about fentanyl and is not using it just as an excuse to impose tariffs." He emphasized the importance of China taking strong measures and regulatory changes to effectively address the problem.
China convicted nine people for trafficking fentanyl to the United States in late 2019, marking a milestone in joint investigations with U.S. law enforcement about the trafficking of this highly addictive painkiller. However, since then, there have been no reports of convictions related to fentanyl trafficking from Chinese officials to the United States.
In August, the Biden administration reported on some steps taken by China, such as the detention of individuals linked to drug trafficking and the classification of chemical precursors for better export control. Despite this, discussions between the United States and China regarding fentanyl and other issues remain stalled.
In a briefing session, Chinese officials cited that some of the information provided by the United States was not accurate, citing cases where U.S. intelligence led to the shutdown of businesses in China. The United States, for its part, has sanctioned and charged several Chinese entities related to fentanyl since early 2023.
China has established measures to combat fentanyl trafficking, including strengthening the supervision of the production of related medications and implementing a strict export approval process to prevent diversion to illegal channels. Despite disagreements between both nations, they have held meetings to jointly address the fentanyl issue since last year.
