China's new foreign minister Qin Gang warned of inevitable "confrontation and conflict" between the United States and China unless the U.S. changes course at a press conference held March 7.
Qin criticized U.S. policies, questioning President Joe Biden's assertion that the U.S. seeks competition with China but not conflict.
Responding to Qin Gang's remarks, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) criticized China for providing and supplying fentanyl to "narco-terrorists" at the southern border. Fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, is primarily produced in Chinese labs and then trafficked into the US via Mexico.
"China has been aiding and supplying the narco-terrorists on our southern border for more than a decade now, harming and, at times, ending the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans," Collins said. "The only thing we are trying to suppress is the flood of Chinese fentanyl into our country and any time the foreign minister wants to help with that we would appreciate it.”
At the press conference, conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Qin Gang responded to a question from NBC News about U.S.-China relations by criticizing the U.S. for distorting its perception and views of China and for regarding China as its primary rival and biggest geopolitical challenge. He argued that the U.S. seeks to contain and suppress China in all respects, rather than engaging in fair competition.
Qin Gang emphasized that the future of the world depends on a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship, saying "(w)e hope the U.S. government will listen to the calls of the two peoples, rid of its strategic anxiety of 'threat inflation', abandon the zero-sum Cold War mentality, and refuse to be hijacked by 'political correctness'.
"We hope that the United States will honor its commitments and work with China to explore the right way to get along with each other to the benefit of both countries and the entire world," Qin Gang said at the press conference.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the relationship between the U.S. and China has become more strained since 2018, with the U.S. adopting a tougher foreign policy approach and China becoming more assertive in defending its interests. Cooperation between the two countries on countering the drug trade has ceased, the WSJ reports. Although China moved to regulate fentanyl and its precursors in 2019, it remains the primary supplier of fentanyl to the U.S. China, however, has refused to take co-responsibility for the fentanyl epidemic and instead suggested that Mexican law enforcement should take charge, the WSJ reports.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reported a sharp increase in overdose deaths across the U.S., especially those involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
In the Washington Division, District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, fatal opioid overdoses rose significantly in 2020, with numbers increasing throughout 2021. In January 2022, there was a rash of overdose deaths resulting from "bad batches" of fentanyl-laced drugs, according to the DEA report.
Mexican cartels are sourcing raw chemicals from China to cheaply produce fentanyl, which is then trafficked into the region and mixed with illicit drugs, causing a significant increase in deadly overdose deaths, the DEA report states. Because of its cheap production cost and high potency, fentanyl is being added to almost every drug, including counterfeit prescription pills, according to the DEA.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 150 people die each day from overdoses caused by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
