China US Photo:VCG

The current impasse in drug enforcement cooperation between China and the US is the result of the arbitrary and unilateral action taken by the US, while China in response is against unilateralism and politicization of drug enforcement cooperation and is keen to review cooperation with the US on the basis of equality and mutual trust, an official of China National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC) said on Wednesday.

The official proposed at the press conference for the 14th Ministerial Meeting of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Drug Control in the Greater Mekong Subregion, in response to a reporter's requestion related to China-US drug enforcement cooperation.

The drug enforcement cooperation has been the highlight of law enforcement cooperation between the two countries, for they started in the 1980s, said Tsang Wai-hung, Vice Commissioner of China NNCC.

However, Tsang said the current impasse of the drug enforcement cooperation is unfortunate, which is the result of the arbitrary and unilateral action taken by the US.

US' sanction on the institute of forensic science under China's Ministry of Public Security has definitely hindered our work in the field of scientific research and drug examination and analysis, said Tsang.

Additionally, the US has been putting sanction of the Chinese enterprises for dealing with uncontrolled chemicals and unregulated equivalence, as well as the arrest and prosecution of Chinese national for dealing with these same substances, Tsang added.

The US has frequently criticized China for the fentanyl issue, and also blames China for its opioid crisis. It's has also claimed that they will push for legislation to sanction China in response to this issue. 

In this regard, Tsang stressed that China is the first country to schedule and control fentanyl by class in May 2019.

Today, China is still the only country in the entire world to have scheduled and controlled fentanyl by the entire class, Tsang said. "What this means is any form of derivatives of fentanyl substance is controlled in China."

At the moment, China has control over 450 types of different types of drugs.

Regarding US' actions, Tsang said that China is against unilateralism and politicization of drug enforcement cooperation. "We are keen to review cooperation with the countries, including the US, on the basis of the equality and mutual trust," he said.

China is fully aware of the complexity and challenges of the global drug situation, said Tsang. "At the moment, China is doing all it can in the fight against drugs, not just within the country itself, but it's also fulfilling its responsibility worldwide," Tsang concluded.