Fentanyl ploy will backfire
In a recent report, the US Congress pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been subsidizing the production of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs through measures such as tax incentives. The CCP government’s practice contributes to the international trade in fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, it said.
Although the CCP’s security agencies reached an agreement with the US to jointly combat the trade of the drug, they notified the targets of the investigation in advance so they could avoid repercussions. As a result, the smuggling and sales of fentanyl have become rampant.
The report said that despite the drug being banned in China, the CCP has blocked information about it and failed to strictly scrutinize exports of it.
Fentanyl functions as a synthetic opiate painkiller and is commonly used to deal with severe pain. Compared with heroin, fentanyl is more likely to be fatal, because it is 50 times more potent.
The flood of the drug into the US is having serious effects.
Ninety-seven percent of fentanyl production is in China, which is why Washington asked Beijing to help stop the continuous production.
However, China only cooperates with the US on the surface, while supporting manufacturers and factories to produce large quantities of the drug behind the scenes.
China seems to believe that exports of fentanyl can make the people of the US and other countries addicted to it. Then it would be able to take control of the world in the long run.
However, China’s approach is unwise.
Although it has blocked Chinese in its territory from learning about fentanyl, it fails to consider that this approach would harm others without benefiting itself.
With the development of the Internet, people can learn about the drug by breaching the Great Firewall of China.
Moreover, overseas Chinese are in contact with people at home at all times.
Once the drug starts to spread in China, its own people would be in danger as well.
Such an approach that is harmful to others and to itself is undesirable indeed.
Lin Hui
Taipei
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS