Chinese foreign ministry says that as the world’s biggest consumer of the opioid, the US should stop trying to pin the drug problem on others.
Source: Do more to cut demand for fentanyl, China tells United States | South China Morning Post
The United States consumes 80 per cent of the world’s opioids, according to China’s foreign ministry. Photo: Reuters
US officials say China is the main source of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances that are trafficked into the United States, much of it through international mail. China denies that most of the illicit fentanyl entering the US originates in China.
US President Donald Trump this month accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of failing to meet his promises to crack down on the deluge of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues flowing into the United States. China labelled that “blatant slander”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the government was playing a positive role in tackling the global drugs issue, and outlined the steps China had taken to control it.
The dispute over fentanyl comes as the United States is in the middle of a major trade dispute with China.
