US-China relations: Beijing warns companies against selling equipment, precursors for fentanyl

[Hamartia Antidote]

China warns companies against selling equipment, precursors for fentanyl

US meanwhile lifts Xinjiang-related sanctions on lab affiliated with Chinese police. It follows agreement between Beijing and Washington to work together on narcotics control.

www.scmp.com

• US meanwhile lifts Xinjiang-related sanctions on lab affiliated with Chinese police
• It comes after Beijing, Washington agreed to work together on narcotics control

Washington has accused China of supplying an illicit flow of the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, which has fuelled a health crisis in the US. Photo: Reuters

Beijing has made a concession to Washington on the fentanyl issue, warning Chinese companies against selling equipment and precursor chemicals that could be used to produce the opioid overseas.
Washington meanwhile lifted Xinjiang-related sanctions on a lab affiliated with the Chinese police, saying the move was key to stopping the trafficking of precursor chemicals.
It came after China and the US agreed to work together on narcotics control when Xi Jinping and Joe Biden held talks in California on Wednesday.

In a notice released on Friday, China’s Office of the National Narcotics Control Commission urged businesses and individuals to prevent the production and trafficking of narcotics, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.

It said they should also guard against the risk of “long-arm jurisdiction” and “entrapment” by foreign law enforcement agencies due to the sale of unregulated chemicals and related equipment.

The narcotics control agency said companies and individuals involved in the production, import and export of controlled substances in the US should exercise caution when receiving orders from countries such as the United States and Mexico. It said they should be vigilant about the risk of the exports being used for illicit drug manufacturing.

An attached list sets out 51 types of precursor chemicals controlled in the US.

The notice said those involved in businesses such as the production and export of tablet press machines should handle orders from the US and Mexico with care to prevent them from flowing into illegal channels and to prevent the risk of “entrapment” or sanctions.

Businesses and individuals were also urged to improve their legal awareness, with “special attention” to be paid to the laws and regulations of the importing nation, “especially high-risk countries like the US and Mexico”.

Sarah Beran, the US National Security Council’s senior director for China and Taiwan affairs, told reporters on Thursday that Xi had agreed to restart bilateral cooperation on counter-narcotics – with a focus on reducing the flow of precursor chemicals – during the summit with Biden.


“Additionally, and for longer term coordination, the leaders agreed to establish a working group through which our law enforcement officials can expand counter-narcotics cooperation,” Beran said.

Also on Thursday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington had removed the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science from its sanctions list – it had been on the list for alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang.

Miller said this was an “appropriate step” to take to stop the trafficking of precursor chemicals.

“It became clear to us in conversations with [China] … that the continued listing of the IFS on the Commerce Entity List was a barrier to achieving cooperation on stopping the trafficking of precursor chemicals,” Miller said.

“It was a top priority for the secretary and for the president to stop the trafficking of precursor chemicals out of China that can be used to produce fentanyl that comes into the United States.”

Washington has accused China of supplying an illicit flow of precursor chemicals that are used to make fentanyl, which has fuelled a health crisis in the US and a sharp increase in overdose deaths.

China listed all forms of fentanyl as controlled drugs in 2019, but according to the US Department of Justice, the Chinese chemical industry has continued to produce precursor chemicals that are shipped to drug cartels in the US and Mexico for illicit production of fentanyl which is smuggled across the country.

Last month, the United States imposed sanctions on 28 people and entities involved in the international proliferation of illicit drugs, including a large China-based network.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Mexico and China Seek to Stem Fentanyl’s Deadly Cross-Pacific Flow

Mexico is in talks with China to stem the flow of fentanyl ingredients as the US pressures source countries to curb the opioid epidemic.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[Menthol]

China is just one of them.

It's just China is selling machine and chemical cheap, that is why everyone is buying from China.

If China stops selling them, they will find other sellers.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

China is just one of them.

It's just China is selling machine and chemical cheap, that is why everyone is buying from China.

If China stops selling them, they will find other sellers.

Yeah but those sellers are in countries that are more likely to check their exports more closely so they don't get blacklisted.

 

[K_Bin_W]

If China stops selling them, they will find other sellers.

i personally know businesses in the US to make profit they have no choice but to import from China. I have a friend he is in import/ export and a major supplier to walmart. He tried looking around the world for better deals but no luck, that's why walmart is called little China..

 

[大汉奸柳传志]

Russia will pick up the trade I think.

 

[MH.Yang]

Yeah but those sellers are in countries that are more likely to check their exports more closely so they don't get blacklisted.

This agreement will not change the status quo in the United States. Because the demand will not go away, new producers will inevitably emerge.

The fact is that China has long since ceased to be a supplier of fentanyl to the United States. The United States gets its fentanyl mainly from Mexico, Canada and India.

If the U.S. government really wants to deal with the fentanyl problem, it must start with the domestic drug regulatory chain. Let me remind Americans of one thing: although China is the world's largest producer of fentanyl, 90 per cent of Chinese people have never seen a fentanyl-based drug in their lives, and 99.9 per cent of Chinese people have never used a fentanyl-based drug in their lives.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Let me remind Americans of one thing: although China is the world's largest producer of fentanyl, 90 per cent of Chinese people have never seen a fentanyl-based drug in their lives, and 99.9 per cent of Chinese people have never used a fentanyl-based drug in their lives.

Most people in the US have never seen a military vehicle or even a fighter jet..that doesn't mean the US Government doesn't actively have our military in other countries.

 

[MH.Yang]

Most people in the US have never seen a military vehicle or a fighter jet..that doesn't mean the US Government doesn't actively have our military in other countries.

You misunderstand me, I am not denying that China is one of the major producers of fentanyl.

What I am saying is that the Chinese government can keep Chinese nationals away from fentanyl in a situation where China is a major producer of fentanyl.

The Chinese government did just that by tightening drug regulations. Wouldn't it be easier to do that with the US not even producing fentanyl?