China News Service, September 3, According to the news on the website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States on September 2, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the United States made a statement on the issue of fentanyl and stated that the Chinese government has always adhered to a "zero tolerance" approach to the drug problem and is resolute and strict. Fight drug crimes.

A few American politicians and media continue to hype "American fentanyl mainly comes from China" and other false content. This is irresponsible to American families suffering from the abuse of fentanyl, and to the general public in China and the United States. The serious misleading of the United States does nothing to help the United States solve its own drug problem and should be corrected as soon as possible.

The full text of the article is as follows:

  Drugs are a public hazard to all mankind.

The Chinese government has always adhered to a "zero tolerance" attitude towards the drug problem, and severely cracked down on various drug-related crimes such as drug production and trafficking.

China feels the same for the American people experiencing the opioid crisis. In recent years, it has been legally and candidly assisting the international community, including the United States, to deal with the problem of fentanyl abuse.

Image source: Screenshot of the website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States

  From 2017 to 2018, China added 6 fentanyl substances and 2 precursors twice, surpassing those listed by the United Nations at the time.

On May 1, 2019, the Chinese government took the lead in the world to formalize the entire category of fentanyl substances without large-scale abuse in the country and the actual harm is not prominent. This is the implementation of China and the United States. The important achievement of the consensus of the heads of state is that China stands on the height of the health, safety and well-being of all mankind, actively responds to the concerns of the American people, and works in good faith to help the United States cope with the domestic opioid crisis.

On the contrary, the United States, as the country with the most prominent fentanyl problem in the world, is also the world's largest producer and user of fentanyl drugs, but it has not yet formally regulated the entire class of fentanyl substances. The reasons are worth pondering.

Here, we urge the United States to formally list all fentanyl substances as soon as possible.

  According to the US Centers for Disease Control report, in 2020, the number of deaths from drug abuse in the US hit a record high, reaching 93,000.

Among them, opioids killed 69,700 people, an increase of more than 30% compared to 2019.

As the international community and China have tightened control over fentanyl substances, the problem of mefentanil has continued to deteriorate, and the number of deaths has risen instead of falling, indicating that the United States has not grasped the key issue of drug abuse.

The Chinese side has repeatedly reminded the US to strengthen the supervision of fentanyl drug prescriptions and strengthen publicity and education. These are all effective practices recognized by the international community.

  After the entire list of fentanyl substances, the National Narcotics Control Commission of China and the Ministry of Public Security have been maintaining close, frank and in-depth collaboration with partners such as the White House Narcotics Policy Office, the International Narcotics Enforcement Bureau of the State Council, and the Narcotics Enforcement Administration. Domestic efforts have been made to promote the formulation of relevant legal documents, investigations and rectifications, and concentrated efforts to combat online sales. In particular, the three systems of “real-name receipt and delivery, receipt and delivery inspection, and machine security inspection” have been implemented through the delivery industry, and the key points involving the United States have been strengthened. Regional cross-border postal parcel inspections and other measures have severely cracked down on the trafficking of fentanyl and other listed chemicals, which have achieved remarkable results and have been widely recognized by US law enforcement partners.

The United States expressed its gratitude on many occasions and repeatedly emphasized that Sino-US drug control cooperation is the highlight of law enforcement cooperation between the two countries.

According to the latest notification from the US anti-drug law enforcement agency, since September 2019, the US has not seized any fentanyl-like substances from China.

The criminal cases involving Wang Fengxi and Chen Jianping that were jointly detected by China and the United States were also publicly sentenced in November 2019 and May 2021, respectively. Wang Fengxi and Chen Jianping were sentenced to heavy sentences in accordance with the law. China invited the United States to Xingtai, Hebei and Shanghai. I listened to the verdicts of these two cases, demonstrating the determination to consistently severely punish violations of Chinese drug control laws.

  At the same time, China attaches great importance to multilateral cooperation in international drug control and has always actively participated in global drug governance.

China has listed fentanyl substances in a whole category, far more than those listed under international conventions.

Just this year, China also listed synthetic cannabinoids as a whole on July 1st and added 18 new psychoactive substances such as fluorine ketone. It will release α-phenylacetyl on September 20, 2021. Six chemicals including methyl acetate have been added as precursor chemicals.

China's strict control of precursor chemicals in accordance with the law has never stopped, and will continue to conduct serious and scientific assessments, and promptly include related varieties into the scope of control.

China is a country under the rule of law. As long as it violates Chinese law, no matter who it is or what means it takes to escape, Chinese law enforcement agencies will severely punish them in accordance with the law and will never be merciless.

  What disappoints China is that despite China’s great goodwill and sincerity, great efforts and sacrifices, and despite the obvious results of Sino-US anti-drug cooperation, there are still a few US politicians and media who continue to hype “American fentanyl mainly comes from China”. Chinese fentanyl precursors flowed into the United States via Mexico.

Even making up the "request for delay" is completely irresponsible and contrary to objective facts.

So far, the Chinese side has never found that China has listed the pre-drug chemicals lost to Mexico, and has not received a notification from Mexico to the Chinese side that it has seized China's lost listed chemicals.

Such false accusations and slanders are irresponsible to American families who have suffered from the abuse of fentanyl substances. They are a serious misleading to the general public in China and the United States. They do not help the United States solve its own drug problem. , Should be corrected as soon as possible.

  In addition, on May 22, 2020, in the absence of any evidence, the U.S. Department of Commerce included the China Physical Evidence Identification Center and the National Drug Laboratory on the "Entity List" for sanctions, which seriously affected the inspection of Chinese fentanyl substances. The identification work has hindered the normal operation of the Chinese fentanyl monitoring system.

China has expressed serious concerns and protests to the US through various channels. This issue has seriously affected China's good desire to help the US in drug control.

China urges the US to correct this wrong approach as soon as possible.

  The Chinese government's strict anti-drug attitude is consistent and resolute.

China is willing to work with countries around the world, including the United States, to promote the establishment of a cooperative relationship of equality, mutual trust, cooperation and win-win cooperation, pragmatically carry out intelligence exchanges, clue sharing and joint investigations, and strive to promote international co-governance of fentanyl substances and share drug control experience , Work together to solve the drug problem, and contribute Chinese wisdom and power to promote global drug governance, eliminate drug harm, and benefit people of all countries.

At the same time, we also warn the United States that the root cause of the problem of mefentanyl abuse lies in itself, and it is not conducive to solving the problem to blame others.

The U.S. must not thank China for its support and help on the one hand, and on the other hand attempt to accuse China of slandering China and intensify negative speculation. This is indeed a wrong approach to setting up obstacles to cooperation.

It is hoped that the United States will face its own problems squarely, come up with practical solutions, learn from international drug control experience, and safeguard the health and well-being of the American people.

We also sincerely hope that the United States will resolve the opioid abuse crisis as soon as possible.