China and Fentanyl: Opium and China’s Century of Humiliation

 It is often claimed that China has responsibility for the epidemic of fentanyl addiction and the related overdose deaths.  It does not produce fentanyl and smuggle it into the US, but it provides chemicals necessary for production to those who do.  Negotiators with China often return from meetings claiming that China’s leaders have promised to take actions to restrict the dissemination of these so-called precursor chemicals.  But that doesn’t seem to ever happen.  Could there be a reason why China might enjoy watching the US and other western nations struggle with addiction?  Let us consider some important China history.

Opium was used for a long time as a form of medicine.  At some point it was discovered that smoking opium produced an addictive high, increasing the demand for it and increasing the incidence of undesirable social behaviors.  In the mid-nineteenth century three converging trends would lead to conflict and what would be referred to as the First Opium War.  China’s leaders wanted to make opium illegal.  Britain, on the other hand, had a brisk trade with China in porcelain, silk, and tea, all of which had to be purchased with silver.  The problem was that it had no significant product desired by the Chinese to balance out that trade, and it was running low on silver.  In nearby India, a productive textile industry was limited by its British rulers who wanted consumers for their own textiles not competitors.  Indian cotton farmers were directed to produce opium crops knowing there would be a strong market for smuggled opium in China.  All Britain had to do was to sell a lot of opium in China.

In 1839, China’s government chose to get aggressive in enforcing its prohibition of the opium trade.  This included destroying warehouses stocking opium owned by Britain and its East India Company.  A naval expedition would be sent to extract reparations and try to force China to open opium trade.  This would become known as the First Opium War.  China was no match for the British military and was forced to make concessions.  It was no match for any European colonial power and soon the US, Russia, and Japan also came making demands on China. 

The period from the First Opium War to the end of World War II has come to be known by Chinese nationalists as the Century of Humiliation.  It is believed by many that resentment over its treatment in that period has generated a plan for revenge referred to as The Hundred-Year Marathon, which aims at making China the dominant world power by 2046. 

One has to wonder how a China that is perhaps interested in revenge would respond when a country that forced China to buy a dangerous drug from it almost 200 years ago is now asking China to protect it from a dangerous drug. 

In April of 2024, a House select committee issued the report Investigation Findings: The CCP’s Role in the Fentanyl Crisis.  These points were made.

“The PRC, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the ultimate geographic source of the fentanyl crisis. Companies in China produce nearly all of illicit fentanyl precursors, the key ingredients that drive the global illicit fentanyl trade.”

 The committee identified the following actions taken by China in contributing to the fentanyl crisis.

“Directly subsidizes the manufacturing and export of illicit fentanyl materials and other synthetic narcotics through tax rebates.”

“Gave monetary grants and awards to companies openly trafficking illicit fentanyl materials and other synthetic narcotics.”

“Holds ownership interest in several PRC companies tied to drug trafficking.” 

“Fails to prosecute fentanyl and precursor manufacturers.”

“Allows the open sale of fentanyl precursors and other illicit materials on the extensively monitored and controlled PRC internet”.

“Censors content about domestic drug sales, but leaves export-focused narcotics content untouched.”

“Strategically and economically benefits from the fentanyl crisis. The fentanyl crisis has helped CCP-tied Chinese organized criminal groups become the world’s premier money launderers, enriched the PRC’s chemical industry, and has had a devastating impact on Americans.”

Seems there may be some revenge being gained.

You can learn a little about a lot of things or you can learn a lot about a very few things. Guess which is the most fun.