China strongly opposes US 'drug source' allegations

The US' so-called identification that China is a "major drug source country" is entirely groundless and a malicious smear, said a China's senior anti-drug official on Tuesday.

"We oppose the politicization of the drug issue and urge the US to cease the unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction and to stop smearing China," said Wei Xiaojun, executive-deputy director of the Office of China National Narcotics Control Commission

In a designation submitted to the US Congress on Sept 15, President Biden identified China as "a major drug source country".

Wei said that China has scheduled 456 anesthetic and psychotropic drugs and two entire classes of substances under regulation, making it one of the countries that have scheduled the biggest number of substances and exercise the strictest control on drugs.

The control of precursor chemicals is the key to dealing with the problem of synthetic drugs. China has been strictly controlling precursor chemicals in accordance with international conventions and domestic laws, listing 38 types of controlled precursor chemicals, he said.

The US claims that the precursor chemicals required for the production of fentanyl in Mexico and other Latin American countries mainly come from China. This assertion is entirely without factual basis, Wei said, adding that countries like the US and Mexico have never provided China with any substantial evidence or a chain of evidence showing that chemicals from China have flowed into Mexico or the US for the illicit production of drugs.

Furthermore, the US has blurred the distinction between precursor chemicals used for drug production and the drugs themselves, he said. The international community follows rigorous procedures when placing certain substances under international control. Many of the precursor chemicals mentioned by the US are not subject to the United Nations' control and have widespread legitimate uses in industry, serving as essential production materials and necessities for people's livelihoods, he said.

"In recent years, both the international community and China have significantly tightened controls on fentanyl substances and their precursor chemicals. There have been few reported cases of fentanyl abuse in Asian countries and elsewhere. Conversely, the fentanyl problem in the US has continued to worsen, with a rising death toll, and the reasons for this are self-evident," he said.