China to continue counternarcotics cooperation with US on basis of equality, mutual benefit and respect: FM spokesperson

BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- China will continue the counternarcotics cooperation with the United States on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy of the United States Rahul Gupta's recent remarks concerning China.

It is reported that Gupta said on Wednesday that since the San Francisco Summit between leaders of China and the United States, the two countries have made significant progress on the fentanyl issue. China has taken offline many websites and online platforms that sell the precursors of fentanyl, made arrests, and scheduled over 50 controlled substances, which have contributed to the drop in overdose deaths. And it's critical that the United States should sustain this progress moving forward while working on other aspects in relationship with China. When asked about the threat of tariffs on the fentanyl issue by President-elect Donald Trump, Gupta said there is no harm in keeping the pressure, and stressed the need to make sure the pressure is kept with a sense of understanding of what is already happening and the progress that is already being made.

Noting China is one of the world's toughest countries on counternarcotics both in terms of policy and its implementation, Lin said China, in the spirit of humanity and goodwill, has given support to the U.S. response to the fentanyl issue to assist global drug control.

"China announced back in 2019 the decision to officially schedule fentanyl-related substances as a class. We are the first country in the world to do so," Lin said.

Working together on counternarcotics is an important common understanding reached by Chinese and U.S. presidents in their meeting in San Francisco, Lin said, adding that with China's active effort, China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation has achieved positive progress.

The two countries launched the Counternarcotics Working Group and carried out cooperation on the scheduling of drug-related substances, joint handling of drug-related cases, technology exchange, multilateral cooperation and removing of online ads, the spokesperson said.

"We hope the United States will not take China's goodwill for granted, and will value China's contribution and effort, avoid undermining the foundation for the cooperation, and work with China to continue the positive dynamics in the counternarcotics cooperation," Lin said.