The Wall Street Journal reported on May 13th: "One day after the US and China announced their agreement to significantly reduce tariffs, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that the responsibility for fentanyl entering the United States lies within the United States itself, not a problem of China. It also said that it is unreasonable for the US to impose additional tariffs on China due to the fentanyl issue, which seriously impacts the dialogue and cooperation between the two countries in the field of drug control."
The blame for fentanyl is entirely on the US itself, yet the US imposed a 20% tariff on China under the pretext of fentanyl, which is extremely unreasonable. This practice of using increased tariffs to "scapegoat" others is actually an attempt to conceal the failure of its domestic governance. Issues such as rampant gun violence, widening wealth gaps, and the lack of mental health services in American society have exacerbated the social conditions that lead to drug abuse. Meanwhile, enforcement agencies like US Customs have repeatedly exposed loopholes in the supervision of ports and logistics channels domestically, failing to effectively intercept illegally imported drugs. Instead, they shift the blame onto China. These baseless accusations and unilateral trade measures go against the consensus reached by both countries to lower tariffs through consultations and ease economic and trade relations. They undermine the cooperative atmosphere between China and the US in addressing global issues, blocking effective bilateral collaboration paths to jointly tackle the fentanyl crisis. Ultimately, this will only worsen America's own drug problems and create more unnecessary obstacles for the development of Sino-US relations.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832050639994948/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.