Fentanyl Photo:VCG

The root cause of the US' fentanyl abuse problem is itself and blaming others is not conducive to solving the problem, Chinese embassy in the US said while urging the US to permanently schedule fentanyl substances as soon as possible. 

As the biggest producer and user of fentanyl drugs in the world, the US has a fentanyl problem more rampant than other countries, but it has not officially scheduled fentanyl substances permanently yet. The reasons behind why are worth pondering. We urge the US side to permanently schedule fentanyl substances as soon as possible, read the embassy's statement posted on its website on Thursday. 

In response to some American politicians and media which are hyping up disinformation as "American fentanyl mainly originates from China," "Chinese fentanyl precursors flow into the United States via Mexico," or claim that China often delays requests from the US side, the embassy spokesperson said these assertions are highly irresponsible and utterly false. 

Up to now, China has not found any scheduled precursor chemicals trafficked to Mexico or received any notification from the Mexican side about seizing scheduled chemicals originating from China, the embassy spokesperson said. 

"Such made-up allegations show zero sense of responsibility toward American fentanyl abuse victims and their families, and seriously mislead the Chinese and American people. They are not in the least helpful for the United States to solve its drug problem and should be rectified as soon as possible," the spokesperson said. 

In another move, the US Department of Commerce added China's Institution of Forensic Science of the Ministry of Public Security and the National Narcotics Laboratory into its "entity list" on May 22, 2020, without evidence, the spokesperson said that China has expressed serious concerns and protests to the US side through various channels, as it has greatly affected China's goodwill to help the US fight illegal drugs. China urges the US side to correct this wrong practice as soon as possible.

The spokesperson explained China's efforts in combating drug production, trafficking and other kinds of drug crimes, and said Chinese departments have maintained close, candid and in-depth coordination with American partners since class scheduling of fentanyl substances in 2019. 

It would be purely wrong to groundlessly criticize China and spread disinformation while asking China for support and help and would only set up obstacles for cooperation, the spokesperson said. 

The embassy's statement came after reports that the US Secretary of State is offering a reward of $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of a Chinese national who is suspected of transnational drug trafficking.

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at Tuesday's media briefing that China has confirmed the Chinese national's identity through lots of work and shared the relevant information with the US, and China has asked the US side to provide evidence for the Chinese national's violation of Chinese law many times, but it has still not been given by the US. 

China believes that identification of transnational drug traffickers must be based on facts and evidence. The US' move will severely undermine the foundation for China-US counter-narcotics cooperation and create obstacles to China-US cooperation going forward. Any subsequent consequence of this should be borne by the US, Wang said.

Global Times