The administration appears to consider it easier to sidestep the existence of a Chinese-government policy that kills Americans than to acknowledge it.
During a briefing call with journalists about the White House’s new strategy on combating drug trafficking, a senior administration official contested findings in a congressional report that revealed the existence of a Chinese-government policy to subsidize fentanyl exports.
That report, which was unveiled by Republicans and Democrats on the House select committee on the CCP in April, found that Beijing subsidizes the export of fentanyl analogues and precursors. The committee found websites operated by the Chinese government that offer companies tax rebates for such exports. Responding to a question about that on today’s call, a senior administration official acknowledged that the White House is aware of the committee’s report. “We do not have any information to support that finding that the PRC is actually subsidizing these exports,” this person said, adding that there should be an ongoing conversation about the topic.
A spokesperson for the House select committee Republicans later pointedly disputed that official’s claim, referring to the fact that information about the subsidies is available on Chinese-government websites, which “demonstrates that the subsidies remain active PRC policy.” The spokesperson added that the committee “has briefed the NSC and dozens of other admin officials on the evidence on a bipartisan basis, and officials from multiple executive branch agencies have confirmed that they have no information to contradict the evidence produced.
“We owe the victims of the fentanyl crisis the truth about its origin and policy solutions that tackle the root of the problem.”
Reached for comment this afternoon, a spokesperson for the National Security Council only referred National Review back to a transcript of the senior administration official’s remarks.
Given that administration officials could presumably assess information about these subsidies themselves, it’s interesting that they’re briefing reporters that they have not seen information corroborating the findings. Since they decline to endorse the select committee’s findings, it’s also unlikely that they are pressing Chinese officials in bilateral meetings on the existence of these subsidies.
The White House could be concerned that accusing the Chinese government of deliberately implementing a policy to encourage the export of fentanyl (as opposed to holding China to account for failing to crack down on fentanyl exports by private actors) would upset the diplomatic balance that it is trying to strike with Beijing.
As part of a series of understandings reached by President Biden and general secretary Xi Jinping last year in San Francisco, the two countries are conducting several ongoing dialogues, one of which is focused on counternarcotics. Washington offered a key concession to get that dialogue started last year: For the first time ever, it removed sanctions that it had put in place in response to Beijing’s atrocities against Uyghurs, which it recognizes as genocide.
The select committee’s report on the Chinese government’s direct hand in fueling America’s fentanyl crisis through policies posted online would, if recognized more widely, bring about explosive consequences for the bilateral relationship, considering that hundreds of thousands of Americans have died of drug overdoses in recent years.
The administration appears to consider it easier to sidestep the existence of a Chinese-government policy that kills Americans than to acknowledge it and risk rupturing what Chinese officials fondly refer to as the “San Francisco vision.”