China has criticized U.S. sanctions imposed on two Chinese firms and four nationals, alleging that they are supplying precursor chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico for the production of fentanyl destined for the U.S. The Treasury Department said the sanctions were part of a wider effort to counter the global threat posed by the trafficking of illicit drugs into the U.S. that is responsible for tens of thousands of American deaths annually. However, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin argued that the U.S. move “seriously undermines” bilateral cooperation between the two countries over drug control.
