“This measure is completely illegal and seriously violates the fundamental rights of Chinese citizens and businesses. China condemns them in the strongest terms,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
Beijing this Saturday “vehemently” condemned the US authorities’ “illegal” decision to accuse four Chinese companies and eight of their employees of bringing to the United States the components needed to manufacture fentanyl, a highly addictive drug.
Two of the eight employees were arrested in an unprecedented punitive action in Hawaii and taken into custody, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on Friday.
“This is a typical example of arbitrary detention and unilateral sanctions,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
“This measure is completely illegal and seriously violates the fundamental rights of Chinese citizens and businesses. China condemned them in the strongest possible terms,” the ministry continued.
According to the Justice Department, Amarvel Biotech, one of the Chinese companies targeted, is accused of importing more than 200 kilograms of chemical precursors into the United States alone, “with the goal of producing more than 50 kilograms of fentanyl, enough to… Kill 25 million Americans.
The three other companies targeted by US authorities are Anhui Recheng Technology, Anhui Moker New Material Technology and Hefei GSK Trade.
These allegations “deeply jeopardize the establishment of antidrug cooperation between China and the United States,” the Chinese ministry said.
The United States has recently stepped up efforts to stem the spread of synthetic drugs, which have been responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths on its territory over the past decade.
Washington is specifically targeting Chinabased companies suspected of supplying fentanyl components to Mexico, the main supplier for synthetic drug sales in the United States.
During a visit to Beijing this week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the issue with Chinese leaders.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin, is currently the leading cause of death among US citizens aged 18 to 49.
China banned the export of fentanyl to the United States in 2019, a decision welcomed by thenUS President Donald Trump’s administration.
However, according to experts, the country continued to supply chemical precursors to fentanyl, mainly to Mexico and Central America, where cartels manufacture the drug before exporting it to the United States.
Beijing has in the past denied any responsibility for the fentanyl overdose crisis, blaming it on American society and its drug companies.
In the United States, opioid overdoserelated deaths have increased in recent years, from 69,000 in 2020 to 81,000 in 2021 and 110,000 in 2022.
Washington recently imposed sanctions on several Chinese companies accused of involvement in the drug trade.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also denied his country had a problem with fentanyl and accused the US of not doing enough to prevent its use on its own territory.