4 ms·
Given China's known role in fentanyl production and now this revelation about the other end of the trade, could it be they view this as some kind of long-term p
by photochemsyn 4y ago
Given China's known role in fentanyl production and now this revelation about the other end of the trade, could it be they view this as some kind of long-term payback for things that took place some 200 years ago?
Source: Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America by Peter Andreas (2013)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13689883-smuggler-nation https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13689883-smuggler-nation
> "Smuggling was also common practice for U.S. merchant ships penetrating the Chinese market for the first time... In the first decade of the nineteenth century, U.S. merchants would also begin to make inroads into the ilicit China opium market, much to the alarm of the British East India Company, which jealously protected its opium-smuggling monopoly. Jacque Downs, the foremost historian of the early U.S.-China opium trade, writes: "The Americans were marvelously ingenious in their exploitation of the commerce. They managed to circumvent both the East India Company's franchise and the Chinese Government's prohibition and carried on a very lucrative, if antisocial and ultimately ruinous trade." Dominated by a handful of players, opium smuggling by American shippers would become increasingly vital to U.S.-China trade relations, with opium sales generating the revenue to buy Chinese goods such as silks and teas. Many of America's most elite merchant families made fortunes in the opium trade: "Girard, Astor, Joseph Peabody of Salem, John Donnell of Baltimore, and the Perkins firm (now allied with Bryant and Sturgis) were among the largest shippers of the drug." "
Yes, legalization/decriminalization plus public health education campaigns and a ban on marketing and doctor kickbacks would probably destroy drug profits around the world.
- fma 4y agoWell, per the article... "Some U.S. officials go further, arguing that Chinese authorities have decided as a matter of policy to foster the drug trade in the Americas in order to destabilize the region and spread corruption, addiction and death here."
- throwaway12388 4y ago
- kurthr 4y agoIf you read mandarin language posts (and even some semi-official ones), the answer is yes. It is considered "pay back". Just as it is used in other countries, racial hatred and jingoism is also used in China for political and social control (or to justify immoral profits). Sales within China would be much more tightly controlled and severely punished. It's about half way to funding Contras with crack sales in LA.
- eunos 4y agoAfter all what US gov did to China these years, Chinese govt has no incentive to help US drug issue
- kurthr 4y agoI guess you'll have no problem with the Uyghurs of Xinjiang nuking Fuping in Shaanxi then. Eye for an eye and all. Russia was part of the opium wars so maybe they just forget to secure an old warhead. Or India decides that the millions who died of Covid are China's fault and fail to stop development and delivery of a bio-weapon. Nice country... shame if something bad was to happen to it. Everything is transactional and zero sum, greed is good. Oh, that's right it would be terrible and millions would suffer from terrorism through nuclear, biological, or chemical means so maybe enforcing your own laws equitably would be a reasonable plan?
- refurb 4y agoI think “payback” is a stretch. The opium wars were 160 years ago. The simpler explanation is it’s a lucrative way to make money.
- ackbar03 4y agoOpium wars didn't even involve America though. I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume it is intentional for any specific reason.
- Our_Benefactors 4y agoIt’s easy to say that if you lack the Chinese perspective. They point to the opium wars as the reason they failed to industrialize at the same time as other nations. And that they are still digging out of that hole to this day. With this perspective in mind, the motive to continue pushing fentanyl is clear. In the relentless Chinese narrative about their “5000 years of continuous culture”, 160 years is a blink of an eye to settle the score.
- refurb 4y agoI mean, sure but if you're a corrupt criminal gang, how high does "payback for the Opium Wars" rank compared to just making money? It's one of those "just so stories" that people love because it ties everything into a nice bow. I'm not saying it's irrelevant, but if the Opium Wars never happened does anyone believe they wouldn't be doing the same thing anyways?
- Our_Benefactors 4y agoAre you aware that China had to pay silver (and ONLY silver) for opium? The motivation then was arguably only “to make money” even though the indolent effects of opium addiction was clear. The suppliers of narcotics always make money. As a modern day dealer with a grudge and a playbook, why not kill two birds with one stone?
- refurb 4y ago