Yu Haibin, deputy director of the National Drug Control Commission Office at the Ministry of Public Security Facilities, in Beijing on Jan. 8. William April
The deputy director of the National Drug Control Commission office waits in a room at a hotel attached to the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing. It's Monday and Yu Haibin (Inner Mongolia, China, 1971), one of the first fighters in the anti-drug fight in this country, welcomes EL PAÍS to talk about the epidemic of fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is growing every year kills more than 70,000 people. people in the United States. Washington has been demanding greater cooperation from Beijing to stop the scourge for years. China is home to a vast chemical industry that produces compounds that can be combined to make fentanyl, an opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin. Dozens of Chinese companies and citizens have been sanctioned or are being sued by the US judiciary for their alleged involvement in trafficking the drug and selling the precursors for its production. Many of them pass through Mexico, where they are converted into the drug that eventually wreaks havoc in cities like San Francisco and Philadelphia.
The issue over which political tensions are at the highest level was an area of dispute between superpowers. In the interview, conducted through an interpreter, Yu defended that Washington had not provided legal evidence that a Chinese citizen had committed illegal acts. And he assures that after the meeting of Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November, “cooperation” between the two countries has been “fully restored.” He shows “empathy” towards the USA, but also points out that the roots of the addiction problem lie in this country. In the People's Republic, on the other hand, history plays a central role in the rejection of drugs: “China suffered enormously from the opium war, so our rejection of drugs is in our blood,” he says, referring to the addiction that originated in Imperial China in the 19th century of conflicts with the colonial powers.
Yu dresses simply, with the blue jacket over a white shirt that government officials typically wear. He speaks slowly for more than an hour. He has carefully prepared the answers – he was asked to submit questions for pre-screening – but also allows questions that are off-script. Three officers accompany him during the interview. The current deputy director joined the Ministry of Public Security as head of the police after graduating from university and has been dedicating himself to combating drugs for ten years, including in connection with chemical precursors and the so-called new psychoactive substances (NSP). He believes that his work is about “finding a balance between not interfering with the industrial use of chemicals and preventing and combating their illegal diversion.” This dilemma in a chemical and industrial power like China sums up much of the problem with fentanyl: a regulated synthetic drug that can, however, be produced thanks to unregulated chemical precursors.
Yu uses last year's example to explain the dilemma. In 2023, the United States “unilaterally” filed five lawsuits, sanctions and arrests related to fentanyl, affecting 31 companies and 39 Chinese citizens. However, according to Beijing's investigation, the materials and substances in question are neither “controlled” by China nor “cataloged” by that country, the United Nations or the United States. This means that his trade is not prohibited. Furthermore, the evidence was “obtained primarily by U.S. agents posing as customers in order to purchase it,” and in some cases the companies involved, although they only posted sales advertisements or accepted inquiries without conducting actual transactions, “were also China “has found no evidence that the sanctioned companies and citizens violated Chinese laws,” the response said. “If the United States can provide evidence legally obtained under Chinese law that these companies and citizens have violated Chinese laws, then China will take strict action under Chinese law.”
Deputy Director Yu acknowledges that the “difficulties” in “controlling” raw materials extend to the entire international community. This “chemical product” has “two faces”: it can be used “for illicit trafficking” and drug production; But it is also used “in industrial and agricultural production and in daily life, including scientific research.” The Asian giant is at the center of the storm as the world's largest chemical producer. But Yu cites international conventions to explain that the fact that a substance is used to make narcotics does not automatically mean it should be regulated. The other possible uses must be taken into account. China's approach, he continues, involves controlling these chemicals to prevent them from being lost through illicit channels, through warnings, singling out industry associations and exercising “corporate self-discipline.” “We not only have to fight illegality, but also protect legality,” he summarizes.
More than 6,500 drug cases
China, which has solved 6,533 drug cases weighing more than 1 kilogram and dismantled 31,000 drug trafficking gangs in the past five years, often talks about the strictness of its regulations to explain why there are few reported cases involving fentanyl in the country . Country. “We take a strong stance on special enforcement in law enforcement.”
The November summit between Biden and Xi in San Francisco changed the pace. Yu appreciates the “important consensus” reached in the fight against fentanyl trafficking. Immediately after the meeting, Washington lifted sanctions imposed on China's National Narcotics Laboratory and the Ministry of Public Security's Institute of Forensic Sciences, removing “previous obstacles” to cooperation. An anti-drug task force was also set up. “Cooperation between China and the United States has been fully restored,” he said. The next milestones include collaboration “in all areas of substance management, including fentanyl,” a “comprehensive collaboration that includes intelligence sharing, case investigations and technical exchanges,” according to the deputy director.
“The Chinese people understand the harm that drugs cause to the American people,” Yu added when asked about US accusations of fueling the opioid crisis. He assures that, despite Beijing's efforts – which since 2019 have included regulating all types of fentanyl, right down to checking postal shipments – the US has not found that fentanyl continues to come from China. Nevertheless, Washington has imposed sanctions on the aforementioned forensic laboratory and institute, he emphasizes. “And the feelings of the Chinese people were seriously hurt by the visit [la entonces presidenta de la Cámara de Representantes, Nancy] Pelosi to Taiwan. That is why we have interrupted our cooperation with the USA on drug control,” he explains.
Despite all his empathy, he is emphatic: “The problem that the United States is now facing has its roots in the country itself. It is caused by drug abuse.” Consider, among other things, the multi-million dollar fines against pharmaceutical companies like Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson, who are responsible for fueling this abuse. “We believe the root cause is that these companies had a profit motive,” he says. In China, however, the devastation of the 19th century is still very present, he concludes. “More than 100 years ago, China suffered enormously from the Opium War, so the aversion to drugs runs in our veins,” he says. From now on he expects the USA to cooperate “on the basis of equality, mutual respect and mutual trust”. And he concludes regarding the extraterritoriality of US sanctions and processes: “We don’t like long-armed jurisdictions.”
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_