Future US-China cooperation on tackling global drugs trade seen as unlikely

China recently suspended all joint initiatives on narcotics in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

Experts say the move will have little impact on the US opioid crisis, but the prospect of future collaboration appears remote

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Fentanyl has caused thousands of deaths in the United States. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:00am, 29 Aug 2022Updated: 6:22am, 29 Aug 2022

China’s decision to stop working with the US in the war on drugs is expected to have little impact on fentanyl smuggling, but drug policy experts are not confident about the prospects for the two countries working together in future.

Beijing froze cooperation with Washington earlier this month in retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan – which it saw as a serious violation of its sovereignty.

“The new tensions between the two countries may not have a significant impact on the number of fentanyl trafficking cases thwarted by Beijing, which was small to begin with,” said Spencer Li, a professor at the University of Macau and President of Asian Association of Substance Abuse Research.

“Rather, it may undermine Beijing’s willingness to step up its efforts to stop the trafficking of fentanyl and precursor chemicals to the US and surrounding regions.”

Fentanyl, originally developed as a painkiller but now a common street drug, can be 50 times more powerful than heroin.

In 2021, nearly 108,000 people in the US died of drug overdoses, about two-thirds of which involved fentanyl or other synthetic opioids, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.