DonateWhy blaming China for Fentanyl crisis in USA is – in the end … wrong
China plays a central and multifaceted role in the global Fentanyl crisis, serving both as a legal manufacturer of medical Fentanyl products and as the primary source of precursor chemicals used by illicit drug networks. While China has made regulatory moves to control Fentanyl production domestically, it remains a critical supplier in the supply chain that fuels the illicit Fentanyl epidemic, particularly in North America. But it is wrong blaming it.
China legally produces Fentanyl and its derivatives for medical use, tightly regulating this production. According to Chinese official reports, in 2023 Chinese enterprises manufactured nearly 85 kilograms of Fentanyl-related bulk substances, including Fentanyl, sufentanil, and remifentanil, mostly for the healthcare system under strict controls. These substances are essential for pain management but distinct from the illicit opioids ravaging communities internationally.
However, the illicit Fentanyl crisis hinges largely on China’s supply of precursor chemicals—key ingredients used to synthesize Fentanyl by clandestine labs outside of China. Despite China’s 2019 scheduling of Fentanyl and many of its analogues as controlled substances, which drastically reduced the export of finished Fentanyl to the U.S., manufacturers have circumvented regulation by exporting precursor chemicals that are not uniformly controlled worldwide. These precursors are then smuggled primarily to Mexico, where criminal organizations process them into the finished illicit Fentanyl found on the streets of the U.S. and Canada.
China blamed but emphasizes global responsibility and rejects accusations
U.S. authorities have repeatedly indicted Chinese chemical companies and individuals involved in the export of such Fentanyl precursor chemicals. For example, a Wuhan-based chemical company, Hubei Aoks, was charged in 2023 for distributing Fentanyl precursors globally. Investigations reveal a pattern of covert sales, including encrypted communications and cryptocurrency transactions, illustrating sophisticated efforts by some actors to evade law enforcement.
Moreover, a compelling and controversial perspective is presented by a 2023 investigation published by The Bureau, which frames China’s role in Fentanyl production as part of a broader covert biochemical warfare strategy directed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The authors argue that Fentanyl trafficking is not merely a crime or health issue but a form of biochemical warfare targeting Western societies, coordinated with other disruptive tactics such as cognitive warfare and biological weapons development. “The Fentanyl epidemic… were casualties in a covert biochemical war — one that Western governments remain unwilling to confront… These hostile state extensions are engaged in biochemical warfare against a tightly clustered group of Western countries.”
From Beijing’s Secret Biowar: National Security Experts Probe Fentanyl and Expanding Viral Bioweapons Program After COVID-19 Lab Leak:
“The Fentanyl epidemic… were casualties in a covert biochemical war — one that Western governments remain unwilling to confront… These hostile state extensions are engaged in biochemical warfare against a tightly clustered group of Western countries.”thebureau
They claim that China’s state-backed chemical supply chains are fused with the industrial-scale production infrastructure of Mexican cartels, which act as proxies in this broader strategic campaign. This assertion highlights the extraordinary resilience and scale of Fentanyl trafficking compared to traditional drug markets, as Fentanyl lethally diminishes its own user base yet continues to expand rapidly. China officially defends its drug control efforts: it claims to apply strong monitoring, law enforcement, and international cooperation to curb Fentanyl-related substance flow. According to Chinese state sources, stringent measures such as monitoring, early warning systems, inspections, and legal controls have been intensified, alongside scientific advancements in drug analysis. China emphasizes shared global responsibility in drug control and rejects accusations.
Mexican TCOs are likely poised to take a larger role in both the production and the supply of fentanyl and fentanyl-containing illicit pills to the United States, especially if China’s proposed regulations and enforcement protocols are implemented effectively. dea
The Fentanyl crisis’s complexity is evident: while Mexican cartels produce most of the illicit Fentanyl consumed in the U.S., China remains the indispensable source of necessary chemical precursors. Other countries like India are emerging as additional sources, further complicating global efforts. China’s role in Fentanyl production and supply is dual and pivotal. The country is officially a regulated producer of medical Fentanyl products and the principal global supplier of precursor chemicals critical to illicit Fentanyl synthesis. While Chinese authorities contend with domestic controls and international cooperation, illicit networks exploit regulatory gaps enabling a global synthetic opioid epidemic that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, particularly in North America.
Better concentrate on the drug users not on the producers
The framing of Fentanyl as part of a covert biochemical warfare effort by Beijing as presented by recent investigative analysis adds a profound strategic dimension to understanding this ongoing crisis. But in the end it differs a lot compared to other hostile means and attacks. Fentanyl is a drug that has effects on many people in all countries, also China. It does not make sense for a (especially autocratic state) producing drugs that may also affect own people. Also are there many legally produced and applied drugs for medical means, like opioids, stimulants or DNS-depressants. Their production and medical application is common and it is an easy but misleading approach to blame the manufacturer for misuse. Finally, combatting drug abuse may focus also on the production side but should mainly be concentrated on the individuals which are addicted to drugs or are in danger of becoming it.
“The trade in fentanyl takes place in both directions. In the first 10 months of 2024, the Canadian border service reported seizing 10.8lb (4.9kg) of fentanyl entering from the US, while US Border Patrol intercepted 32.1lb (14.6kg) of fentanyl coming from Canada.” bbc
Taking drugs away from a person at risk is an easy way that state authorities can handle well. They have police officers, customs agencies, and limiting import or official use is an obvious method. But if you look into people’s minds and start there—so that they no longer have the desire for drugs or understand that drug abuse is harmful to them—that would be the much longer-term success. A drug problem does not originate with the drug manufacturers or the criminal cartels supplying a shadow market, but with the drug users who have a craving for the substance.
Additional sources – based on Perplexity
- https://www.thebureau.news/p/beijings-secret-biowar-national-security
- https://www.ag.ky.gov/Press%20Release%20Attachments/23.7.31%20Letter%20to%20State%20Department%20(final).pdf
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg93nn1e6go
- https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/chinese-chemical-company-senior-leaders-indicted-suspected-Fentanyl-manufacturing
- https://en.unav.edu/web/global-affairs/esta-china-usando-el-fentanilo-como-arma-contra-estados-unidos
- https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/DEA_GOV_DIR-008-20%20Fentanyl%20Flow%20in%20the%20United%20States_0.pdf
- http://de.china-embassy.gov.cn/det/zgyw_/202503/t20250306_11569854.htm
- https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10890
- https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/frontline-against-Fentanyl
- https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/Fentanyl-and-us-opioid-epidemic
- https://www.unodc.org/unodc/data-and-analysis/world-drug-report-2023.html
