Barb Van Andel-Gaby Chairman of Heritage Foundation - Economy | Official Website
The Heritage Foundation unveiled a report today highlighting China's role in fueling America's fentanyl crisis. The report redirects attention from Mexico to China, implicating the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) and suggesting policy solutions to hold it accountable.
Robert Greenway, Director of the Allison Center for National Security at Heritage, remarked, “Between 2021-2023 more Americans died from opioids than from World War I and the Korean and Vietnam wars combined. It’s long past time to confront the driving force of America’s fentanyl crisis: China."
Greenway elaborated on the CCP's involvement: "For years, the CCP has undermined U.S. interests by providing Mexican cartels with financial and production resources to expand their fentanyl market. Both the Mexican and Chinese governments have repeatedly demonstrated a lack of commitment to better addressing this epidemic."
He further stated, "The CCP is directly culpable for this crisis and has yet to face consequences. This report reveals the next steps to do so.”
Key findings from the report include:
- Chinese precursor chemicals are essential in supplying deadly fentanyl throughout the United States.
- Chinese pharmaceutical companies utilize dark web marketplaces to sell illicit narcotics, including various fentanyl precursor chemicals.
- China uses fentanyl negotiations with the U.S. as leverage while refusing substantive discussions during most of President Biden's first term.
- China's involvement extends beyond supplying chemicals; it also plays a significant role in money laundering operations linked to fentanyl trafficking networks across Mexico and into the United States.
The report suggests that given a lack of cooperation from both Chinese and Mexican governments, the United States must lead efforts against this crisis by implementing protective measures for its trade, financial, and healthcare systems while deploying intelligence and law enforcement agencies against these illicit networks.
Andrew Harding, Research Assistant at Heritage’s Asian Studies Center and co-author of the report, commented: “Despite its geographic distance, China—not Mexico—has emerged as the primary force behind America’s fentanyl crisis."
He added that “China’s precursor chemicals and money laundering operations have emboldened Mexican Cartels and poisoned Americans from within,” emphasizing that "the CCP’s latest offensive against the United States confirms that they remain America’s top adversary.”
Background materials related to Heritage's findings can be accessed through their panel discussion recap titled "Exposing China's Complicity in America's Fentanyl Crisis" or via a newly released explainer video on America's fentanyl crisis.
