The US Treasury Department has recently sanctioned 25 businesses and individuals in China on charges of trafficking precursor compounds of fentanyl, a powerful drug, into the United States. & nbsp,
Since the Trump administration brought up the opioid crisis with the Chinese state in 2019, it has been a significant problem in Sino-US connections. Other than morphine, which generally affects fenatyl, there were 56, 516 chemical opioid-related deaths in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
12 companies and 13 people in China are among those who were recently sanctioned on Tuesday. In addition to them, two organizations and one Canadian-based person were likewise sanctioned. & nbsp,
It’s not the first moment that supplies associated with fentanyl have resulted in sanctions against Chinese companies. The Office of Foreign Assets Control ( OFAC ) of the US Treasury Department blacklisted seven businesses and six individuals in China in May.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland stated on Tuesday that a cartel-driven morphine smuggling network that spans nations and countries is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
We are aware that the cartels’ leaders, drug traffickers, money launderers, covert laboratory operators, security personnel, weapons suppliers, and chemical suppliers are all part of this network, according to Garland. And we are aware that chemical companies in China frequently begin this world fentanyl offer ring, which culminates in the deaths of Americans.
According to Liu Yupeng, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the US, China vehemently denounced the United States’ decision to boldly approve Chinese people and organizations. He claimed that the Taiwanese government has a strong position on counter-narcotics. & nbsp,
The Chinese part agreed to establish a working group to address the fentanyl problems in the US when US State Secretary Antony Blinken visited Beijing in June. However, the group’s formation has remained delayed. & nbsp,
sanctioned businesses
The OFAC claimed that the sanctioned Taiwanese businesses and individuals were also involved in the international trade in nitazenes and xylazine, two extremely dangerous substances that are frequently combined with illegal fentanyl or other drugs. & nbsp,
Xylazine, also known as” tranq ,” is a potent sedative for veterinary use that is being used more and more by drug traffickers who combine it with illegal fentanyl to create lethal mixtures. The potency of nitazenes varies, with some being significantly more effective than heroin and fentanyl combined. & nbsp,
A Chinese illegal drug gang that produced and distributed nitazenes, fentanyl, mdma( or ice ), and MDMA( Or transport ) precursor chemicals was led by Wang Shucheng and his son, Du Changgen.
Du was the owner of five businesses, including Hebei Guanlang Biotechnology Co Ltd. in Hong Kong and Hubei Vast Chemical Co., as well as Beijing Jarred Industrial Co, Shanghai, and Hanhong Pharmaceutical Technology Colomb in China.
Additionally approved were their suppliers, who sell product compression equipment and fentanyl precursor chemicals. & nbsp,
The drugs gang, according to the OFAC, used virtual money to settle their agreements.
Some Taiwanese critics accuse the US of being to blame for its own drug issues. & nbsp,
Only 5 % of the world’s population lives in the US, but 80 % of all opioids sold worldwide are consumed there. It is a significant drug-consuming country, according to Zhu Ruixin and Qiu Xia, two reporters from China, who wrote about it in an article that was published on September 19. & nbsp,
They claim that a number of factors, including the United States’ inability to regulate psychedelic drugs, cooperation between lawmakers and drugmakers, and subpar counter-narcotics, contributed to the fentanyl crisis. Yet, some US officials, including China, are now attempting to place the blame elsewhere.
According to them, since 1991, the US has experienced three tides of opioid drug issues, including morphine, heroin, and Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin from the 1990s to the 2010s. They believe that politicians’ funds from pharmaceutical companies contributed to the US government’s failing to succeed in counter-narcotics.
According to them, China has initiated a ban on fentanyl exports to the US since 2019 and has also established surveillance networks to stop the use of its chemicals in the production of illegal drugs. They claim it is unfair that the US has accused China of exporting morphine herald chemicals to Mexico without first giving China any prior notice.
The” New Opium War”
The fentanyl crisis was referred to in an article by Celina Realuyo, a professor at the National Defense University, as the” New Opium War” in 2019. She was alluding to the conflict between the United Kingdom and Qing dynasty China in 1839 – 1842. & nbsp,
According to Chinese observers, if this is the” New Opium War,” China will prevail this time. & nbsp,
Liu Xiao and Mao Yufei, columnists for the People’s Daily newspaper Global People, claim in an article that was published on September 20 that whenever the US faces a drug issue, it blames China. More than a century before, the US pulled this prank.
They also note that American doctors began prescribing heroin to their clients in the 1870s, which led to a widespread use of the drug over the ensuing decades. & nbsp,
They claim that the US authorities blamed Chinese immigrants for bringing opium smoking to the nation and equated the drug-taking conduct with that of” Chinese, players, and hookers” in order to pass a bill in Congress in 1909 to forbid the import of the substance.
According to a writer going by the name” Beifengxuelin ,” the US made money from the opium trade in China in the 1800s and used the proceeds to become an industrial power over the course of the previous century. He claims that the US’s recent criticism of China for providing pesticides is absurd. & nbsp,
He claims that the US will continue to spell fentanyl-related products from India even if China reduces its exports.
In the sixth century, Muslim traders brought the opium poppy to China. Foreign healer Li Shizhen described it as a minor drug in the Compendium of Materia Medica in 1596. Its seeds, roots and grains, which are made of morphia, can be brewed into drink. & nbsp,
Heroin smoking, which allows for a lot more morphine usage, was developed in Southeast Asia in the 17th century. Morphine, which is 10 times more potent than processed heroin, was extracted in 1803. Fetanyl is presently 100 times more powerful than morphine. & nbsp,
In terms of painkilling result, fentanyl is 1, 000 times more potent than the opium seen 180 times before. It is also more addictive because it can cause a person’s brain and body to release significantly more serotonin, or” pleasure hormone.”
Read: New Sino-US tensions are sparked by the Fentanyl and Russia deal.
At & nbsp, @ jeffpao3 is Jeff Pao’s Twitter account.