US vs. China: A Confrontation That Makes No Sense

The Chinese Embassy in Mexico registered strong objections to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on 17 Chinese and Mexican entities and individuals allegedly involved in the proliferation of equipment used in the production of illegal drugs, in particular fentanyl. The Chinese legation maintained that the irrational punishment imposed by Washington adversely affect the rights and interests of the targets of the sanctions. In addition, the punishment creates obstacles to bilateral cooperation in addressing the issue of drug trafficking, a challenge to which Beijing declares it is completely and openly committed.

Beyond the question of whether the company and parties named are guilty of collaborating in drug trafficking as charged, it is clear that the fundamental problem is not with the machines that make pills. These machines play a role that is legal and clearly necessary, and it is not possible to take them off the market. The real issue, which the U.S. authorities consistently evade, is the cycle of profit that drug trafficking is generating for the country’s economy in the undeniable facilities that the U.S. financial system provides for laundering organized crime money, in the all-powerful arms industry that is fueled by the violence and profits hugely from its growth, and in the profound moral crisis that exists in that society. It is generally known that drug trafficking business arises from the huge demand that U.S. citizens have for illegal substances. This demand, in turn, grows out of a loss of social cohesion, in an extreme individualism that condemns people to failure and the inability to find individual solutions to grave social problems within a free-market fundamentalism that allows Big Pharma to irresponsibly promote highly addictive opiates.

As long as Washington does not develop serious strategies to address the demand and the factors that drive it, any effort to cut off the supply will be futile and, as is happening now, will generate a source of new problems including violence and the expansion of organized crime into ever more sectors of the economy. The U.S.’ desire to blame China for its own social ills puts Mexico in the middle of a dispute that it has nothing to do with but that condemns it to pay a very high price in terms of armed violence, corruption and diversion of public resources to fighting crime, resources that could be used to promote well-being.

As well as being useless with respect to what the U.S. says it wants to do to combat fentanyl production, starting another conflict with China is reckless and could lead to a confrontation of unimaginable consequences. Instead of creating a new international conflict, the U.S. should concentrate on resolving, through dialogue and diplomacy, the existing differences with respect to Taiwan, control of the eastern Pacific, trade and the Asian giant’s technological advances.