The U.S House committee on China said Tuesday that the Chinese government is seeking to fuel the fentanyl epidemic in the United States by subsidizing precursors, or substances necessary to make the drug and other synthetic opioids.
A committee report says that China is also tampering with U.S. investigations into illicit manufacturers by warning targets beforehand and allowing them to make it harder for authorities to detect activities.
Committee investigators on Tuesday said they accessed a government website providing tax rebates for companies producing specific fentanyl precursors on the condition they sell them outside of China.
Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who testified at the House hearing, said the report “uncovered persuasive evidence” of the alleged precursor subsidization.
Barr recommended that the U.S. urge Chinese authorities to seek greater enforcement of the issue.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in November to resume bilateral cooperation to stem the flow of drug precursors and drug trafficking.
The chair of the select committee, Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher said, “Through its actions, as our report has revealed, the Chinese Communist Party is telling us that it wants more fentanyl entering our country.”
“It wants the chaos and devastation that has resulted from the epidemic,” he added.
According to the Reuters news agency, China’s embassy in Washington reiterated the sincerity of its cooperation with the U.S. to crack down on drug trafficking and to control precursors.
Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Reuters, “It is very clear that there is no fentanyl problem in China, and the fentanyl crisis in the United States is not caused by the Chinese side, and blindly blaming China cannot solve the U.S.’ own problem.”
The committee called for the creation of a task force to consolidate intelligence, economic and enforcement resources which reports to the U.S. attorney general. The task force would assist the president on the National Security Council and would oversee the opioids portfolio.
The committee also called on Congress to provide clarification on the power of the president to sanction parties involved in drug trafficking. It requested that the U.S. sanction violators and report regularly to Congress on how often sanctions are imposed.
The top committee Democrat, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, condemned the ability of Chinese companies to sell synthetic opioids online. He pointed to a screenshot of one such website, saying “There are hundreds of these website posts – hundreds.”
“This is completely unacceptable,” he added.
Most overdose deaths in the United States are associated with fentanyl, and often, other drugs are laced with it without the buyer’s knowledge.
Some information in this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
