WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday suggested Beijing may be “deliberately” flooding America with the synthetic opioid fentanyl, in a “reverse” form of the mid-1800s Opium Wars that enfeebled China’s international standing.
U.S. officials blame fentanyl for ravaging communities and causing the overdose deaths of tens of thousands of Americans a year. Mexican transnational criminal gangs source precursors for fentanyl from China and then smuggle the drug into the United States, the officials say.
In an interview at the State Department with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday, Rubio said he believed China “could stop in a second” the outflows of precursors, but chose not to bother.
“They could stop it if they wanted to. You have to wonder in some cases, is this a deliberate thing, like are they flooding us with fentanyl?” Rubio said, prompting Kilmeade to draw a link with the Opium Wars, which pitted China against British opium traders.
“In reverse, right,” Rubio responded. “And are they doing this on purpose? You have to wonder. I mean, I’m just saying.”
The Opium Wars of 1839-1842 and 1856-1860 saw China, which was struggling against surging opium addictions, attempt to stave off the colonial British and French navies, who fought to force the country to continue buying opium and other goods from traders.
Chinese officials blamed widespread opium addiction for a degradation in social stability -– much like U.S. official today blame fentanyl for crime –- and had attempted to prohibit the drug.
But their loss in the wars resulted in the “unequal treaties” that forced China to legalize opium and give up control of Hong Kong. That ushered in “the century of humiliation” in China, which continues to influence Beijing’s outlook on the world to this day.
‘Can’t prove’ it
Asked by Kilmeade in his interview on Wednesday if he simply “wonders” or “knows” that China is deliberately allowing fentanyl into America, Rubio acknowledged he had no proof.
“Well, we can’t prove that they’re doing it on purpose, but boy, it looks like it. It really does,” Rubio said, explaining that Chinese diplomats were willing to offer fentanyl crackdowns during talks.
“They know these guys are operating and they don’t [stop them], and I think they’re holding it over our head too, right?” he said. “They’re saying, well, we’ll help you with this if you don’t put tariffs.”
U.S. President Donald Trump this month imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports in retaliation for what he said was Beijing’s refusal to stop the outflow of precursors. On Thursday, Trump warned he would ramp that rate up a further 10% on March 4.
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Fentanyl played a large role in diplomacy between the United States and China during the last U.S. administration, with then-President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussing the issue during their high-profile talks in San Francisco in November 2023.
A pledge from Xi that China would work harder to stem the outflows of fentanyl precursors was one of three main deals to come out of the summit -– alongside a restoration of military-to-military talks and cooperation on the regulation of artificial intelligence.
But Trump says China has not done enough to fulfill Xi’s pledge.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Radio Free Asia on Thursday that Rubio’s claims amounted to “groundless suspicions and smears.” The fentanyl supply to America had in fact been “disrupted” through Chinese help, he said.
Chinese authorities had “cleaned and rectified 14 online platforms, canceled over 330 company accounts, shut down over 1,000 online shops, removed over 152,000 online advertisements and conducted regular online patrols” as part of a crackdown, Liu said.
“China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation has achieved remarkable results, which is obvious to all,” he added. “Reducing domestic drug demand and strengthening law enforcement cooperation are the fundamental solutions to the fentanyl crisis in the United States.”
Edited by Malcolm Foster