US risks damaging counternarcotics cooperation with China

The United States will undermine its drug control cooperation with China by simply blaming others for its own fentanyl crisis, the Ministry of Public Security said, urging the US to maintain the hard-won and favorable situation of bilateral counternarcotics cooperation.

A spokesperson from the ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the root cause of the US' fentanyl crisis lies within the US itself, and the fundamental solution is to reduce its domestic demand for illicit drugs and enhance law enforcement cooperation.

The statement came after the US' decision to levy an additional 10 percent tariff on imports from China, due to the fentanyl issue.

Voicing strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the move, the spokesperson said China, at the request of the US, scheduled the entire class of fentanyl-related substances in 2019, when there was no widespread abuse of such substances in China.

The spokesperson noted that China was the first country in the world to schedule the entire class of fentanyl-related substances, adding that it has not received reports from the US regarding seizures of such substances originating from China since the scheduling.

In contrast, the US has not permanently scheduled the entire class of these substances, the spokesperson said.

China is among the countries with the strictest and most thoroughly implemented drug control policies, working actively with various other countries, including the US, to combat illicit drugs, the spokesperson said.

Furthermore, the spokesperson highlighted the extensive and pragmatic counternarcotics cooperation between China and the US in recent years, which has led to significant progress.