China: Shifting blame is not the solution to the fentanyl crisis in the United States

　　China News Service, Beijing, January 20 (Reporter Li Jingze) Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presided over a regular press conference on the 20th.

　　A reporter asked: The spokesperson of the US State Department said that China is no longer the main source of fentanyl flowing into the US, but precursor chemicals from China are still used in the illegal production of fentanyl.

The United States will continue to urge China to take more meaningful and concrete actions, and is committed to cooperating with China in areas where the two countries can constructively cooperate, such as fentanyl.

How does China respond to this?

　　Wang Wenbin: Regarding the question you mentioned, we have already clarified China's position before, and we would like to reiterate the following points:

　　First, China has been vigorously carrying out international anti-drug law enforcement cooperation under the framework of the United Nations Convention on Narcotics Control, and has always strictly controlled precursor chemicals.

　　Second, non-scheduled chemicals have a wide range of legal uses, and any company can produce, export and use them on their own.

It is the legal obligation of the government of the importing country to ensure that international goods are not used for illegal purposes. Just as steel can be used to make cars, it can also be used to make guns. International steel trade cannot be banned just because guns are banned.

　　Third, in May 2020, the U.S. included China’s Ministry of Public Security’s Physical Evidence Appraisal Center, the National Narcotics Laboratory and other institutions on the Entity List for sanctions, which seriously affected and restricted China’s ability to control drugs.

While the United States is harming the interests of other countries, it demands cooperation from other countries. There is no such reason in the world. Pushing the blame is not the solution to the fentanyl crisis in the United States.

　　Fourth, the United States should lift sanctions against relevant Chinese agencies as soon as possible, stop smearing China's anti-drug efforts, and at the same time permanently schedule the entire category of fentanyl-like substances to resolve the domestic fentanyl abuse crisis in a responsible manner.

(Finish)