Why fentanyl crisis could derail fragile detente with Beijing

Who is responsible for the United States’ opioid epidemic? According to the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the culprits are “transnational criminal enterprises” who need to be tackled via international law enforcement operations. But according to Chinese state media, “the fentanyl crisis in the United States is demand-driven”, primarily by “the users themselves”.

- Amy Hawkins

Blinken was speaking at the launch of a US-led coalition to address synthetic drug threats, which gathered virtually this month. China, which many US lawmakers blame for the crisis, declined to participate.

As a string of US officials visit China this summer, the Americans are hoping that Beijing will do more to crack down on businesses and individuals that sell fentanyl precursors to international drugs cartels. Precursors are chemicals that can be mixed into the lethal opioid. But so far China has reacted angrily to suggestions that it bears any responsibility.

As relations between the two countries have soured, the drugs death toll has continued to rise. In 2022, more than 107,000 people in the US died from drug overdoses, up from about 71,000 in 2019. Two-thirds of last year’s deaths involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which the US Drug Enforcement Administration says comes largely from China, via cartels in Mexico.

Last month, two Chinese nationals were arrested by the US authorities for alleged fentanyl trafficking.