China on Wednesday expressed its “firm opposition” to sanctions imposed by the United States on a China-based network for producing and distributing substances suspected of fueling the fentanyl crisis.
Joe Biden’s administration announced on Tuesday that the United States Treasury Department sanctioned 25 people and companies based in China accused of supplying substances to manufacture fentanyl and other synthetic drugs to drug traffickers, including Mexican cartels.
In addition, the Department of Justice prosecuted eight companies based in China and several of their executives “for crimes related to the production, distribution and importation of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids, methamphetamines and their chemical precursors.”
“We firmly oppose the US sanctions and legal proceedings against Chinese citizens and entities, and the serious violation of the legitimate rights and interests of the individuals and companies concerned,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
“The fentanyl crisis in the United States has its roots in the country itself,” said the Chinese ministry, which said it submitted a “solemn complaint to the United States representation.
The opioid issue is one of several points of friction in the tense relationship between the United States and China.
The Democratic Biden administration has placed as a priority the fight against trafficking in fentanyl, which is a powerful synthetic opioid that is estimated to be the cause of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States in recent years.
