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US-China relations
OpinionComment
Zha Daojiong
Zha Daojiong

Opinion | Against fentanyl scourge, US and China have good reason to join forces

  • The synthetic opioid presents a unique challenge not just to America but the world
  • Anything but a resumption of full US-China cooperation would be a lost chance to prevent new, unscheduled fentanyl precursor chemicals from spreading

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A homeless man checks on a friend who passed out after smoking fentanyl at a homeless encampment in Seattle, Washington, on March 12, 2022. Photo: AFP
Zha Daojiong
Fentanyl features prominently in high-level exchanges between the US and Chinese officials and, of late, has become a must-mention topic. As recently as in August, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo identified the combating of fentanyl as among pressing challenges such as artificial intelligence and climate change that require cooperation with China, during her trip to Beijing.
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In anticipation of a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in San Francisco this month, American experts expect the reduction of the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China to be foremost on the list of US requests for Chinese cooperation.
Given that former US president Donald Trump raised the fentanyl issue as far back as in November 2017 during his Beijing visit, a sense of impatience, even frustration, with China on the part of American officials and its China policy researchers can be discerned.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45, plaguing public health across congressional districts and communities. Since its invention in the late 1950s, fentanyl has been used safely for decades in clinical settings. The widespread use of illicit fentanyl – about 100 times more potent than morphine – is a recent phenomenon. Addressing the public health crisis posed by illicit fentanyl and other drugs laced with it is a constant and challenging task.

Across the foreign policy communities of the US, however, the narrative seems straightforward: the root of the problem lies in China.

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Yet since May 1, 2019, China has included all fentanyl-related substances in its controlled list of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances with non-medical use. This makes China’s drug scheduling policy, which includes the prohibition of exports, one of the strictest in the world. In contrast, fentanyl scheduling in the United States, while recognised as an effective measure, is a matter of federal and state prerogative.

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