Donald Trump’s move labelling fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction” is unlikely to disrupt Sino-US relations, but it expands Washington’s China policy toolbox and could inject uncertainty in ties over the long term, according to analysts.
On Monday, the American president signed an executive order designating illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, as a weapon of mass destruction, calling the drug “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic”.
Without naming names, the order highlighted the national security threat posed by drug trafficking networks and cartels. It framed their activities as associated with terrorism and warned of “the potential for fentanyl to be weaponised for concentrated, large-scale terror attacks”.
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Some of America’s highest officials, including the secretaries of state, defence and homeland security, have been called on to help tackle the issue, according to the order.
Meanwhile, Canada seeks to work more closely with China to stop fentanyl precursors from reaching North America, according to Kevin Brosseau, Ottawa’s fentanyl tsar, in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday.
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“We’re looking to collaborate with China because it’s not an indictment against the Chinese government, per se,” Brosseau said.