Much has been written about China’s alleged role in the US opioid crisis. Chemicals from Chinese suppliers have supposedly been used by Mexican cartels to produce fentanyl, which is then trafficked into the United States where it has fuelled a deadly overdose crisis.
Successive US administrations have pressured Beijing to crack down on its chemical industry. China has taken repeated steps to regulate precursors, including most recently last month when it restricted 13 new chemicals at US…