John Cassara, a former agent of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Anti-Money Laundering Section, said he does not believe that "the Chinese government will engage in meaningful cooperation with the U.S." to address the flow of fentanyl precursors out of China. Cassara shared his statement with the Federal Newswire.
"I do not believe the Chinese government will engage in meaningful cooperation with the U.S. on this issue," said Cassara. "There is nothing in the CCP's record that suggests it will take meaningful action. Their lack of action is primarily because U.S. 'leaders' do not take meaningful action - and why don't we take action? In addition to leading the world in transnational crime, China also leads the world in corrupting / influence operations."
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (Select Committee) released a report detailing the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) role in the fentanyl crisis. The Select Committee discovered that the CCP allows and subsidizes the manufacturing and export of fentanyl precursor chemicals, according to the report. The CCP supports Chinese companies' production and sale of fentanyl precursor through several mechanisms, including providing tax rebates to chemical manufacturers, allowing "the open sale of fentanyl precursors and other illicit materials" on the internet, and not enforcing the content censors on narcotics exports that are applied to content related to domestic drug sales. The Select Committee offered several recommendations to the U.S. government on addressing the fentanyl crisis, including establishing a Joint Task Force – Counter Opioids (JTF - CO) to address the global illicit fentanyl supply chain. Additionally, the Select Committee called on Congress to "support international cooperation among law enforcement agencies to hold bad actors accountable" and direct the U.S. President to prioritize counternarcotics efforts in the intelligence community.
In 2018, the U.S. praised China for regulating two common fentanyl precursors that were being purchased by Mexican cartels, used to produce fentanyl, and then brought into the U.S., but after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022, China refused to discuss taking further action to combat the flow of fentanyl, the Wall Street Journal reported. Rep. David Trone (D-MD), who served as co-chair on a federal commission on opioid trafficking, said all talks about the drug between China and the U.S. State Department and Drug Enforcement Agency have been cut off.
Chinese Spokesman Wang Wenbin said in an August 2022 press briefing, "In disregard of China’s stern warnings and repeated representations, Nancy Pelosi visited China’s Taiwan region" according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "This has dealt a heavy blow to the political foundation of China-US relations. The Chinese side announced eight countermeasures including suspending China-US counternarcotics cooperation."
In November 2023, President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Xi said China would resume counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S., according to a commentary authored by Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institute. However, Felbab-Brown said, "It is unlikely that China will end its approach of subordinating its anti-drug and anti-crime cooperation to its strategic calculus."
Cassara served in the federal government intelligence and law enforcement communities for 26 years, according to his website. He has testified before Congressional committees six times on issues related to money laundering and transnational crime. He is the author of multiple books, including "Money Laundering and Illicit Financial Flows: Following the Money and Value Trails."
