Ambassador Nicholas Burns refuted the notion that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is responsible for the fentanyl crisis in the United States. In an interview with Politico on Thursday, Burns stated, “Can we work on the fentanyl problem? The government here in Beijing is not contributing to that problem,” clarifying that private Chinese firms are shipping illicit precursor chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico and Central America, which then produce fentanyl that is smuggled into the US.

Does this statement surprise anyone? Given the alleged bribery of the Biden family by the Chinese, Biden’s Ambassador appears to be doing all it can to absolve the Chinese of any wrongdoing. If you are a reader of this site, you should know better.

In a recent hearing before the Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions, Republican lawmakers argued that communist China is taking advantage of the Biden administration’s open border policies to poison hundreds of thousands of Americans with fatal fentanyl. The lawmakers argued that China is leveraging the cartels that control Mexico to advance its money laundering efforts and harm Americans in the process. However, despite the evidence presented, the ambassador of China to the United States has denied his country’s involvement in the production and distribution of fentanyl in the U.S.

Witnesses at the hearing spoke about the threat of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year. In 2021 alone, 70,601 Americans died due to synthetic opioid overdoses, and drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. Most of those deaths can be attributed to fentanyl, one of the most potent, lucrative, and lethal drugs on the black market.

One gram of fentanyl, about the size of a pack of table sugar, can kill approximately 500 people. Because of its powerful punch and small size, cartels often see smuggling fentanyl and fentanyl-laced products as a means to make more money with less risk. In 2022, Customs and Border Protection seized 14,700 pounds of fentanyl, triple the amount seized in 2020. Since President Joe Biden was elected, CBP reports record-breaking fentanyl seizures nearly every month.

The criminal organizations that control the border may be responsible for smuggling the fatal drug, but their operations are sustained by investors linked to the Chinese Communist Party, who fund and manufacture the components required to assemble fentanyl pills. “The Chinese serve as key enablers of the Mexican drug trafficking organizations, they profit at the front end of the business cycle, purveying fentanyl and precursor chemicals, and at the back end by laundering the millions of dollars generated by the Mexican cartels in the U.S.,” witness Celina B. Realuyo, an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, testified.

The CCP’s motives, members, and witnesses at the hearing declared, are less than pure. “There’s only one reason that they’re selling this poison: it is to destabilize the United States and to kill Americans,” said witness Jason Grellner, vice president of healthcare at Evolv Technology. “Chinese actors aggressively use the internet and social media to advertise and market their illicit products, often in English. They blatantly target Western consumers,” added Jonathan Cassara, a retired special agent for the U.S. Treasury.

However, despite the evidence presented, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, denied his country’s involvement in the production and distribution of fentanyl in the U.S. In a recent interview, Qin argued that China has taken strong measures to crack down on the production and sale of fentanyl, including adding it to the list of controlled substances and imposing stricter regulations on its production.

Qin’s assertion, however, is at odds with the facts. The evidence clearly shows that China is still the primary source of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals. In recent years, to get their hands on more American dollars, the CCP has shifted its focus to arguably the most potent and lucrative opioid on the market. They do this by producing the precursor chemicals required to make fentanyl and expanding those chemical productions to other countries like India.

Given the gravity and scale of the situation, it is imperative that the United States takes action to combat the fentanyl crisis. Republicans argue that securing the border is the first step in cutting off the flow of drugs into the United States. Democrats, on the other hand, argue that the issue is primarily about money and that more needs to be done to