U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that China might be deliberately flooding the United States with the synthetic opioid fentanyl. He compared the situation to a "reverse" version of the Opium Wars in the 1800s, which had weakened China’s global standing. This statement was reported by Radio Free Asia (RFA).

U.S. officials say fentanyl is causing devastation in communities and leading to the overdose deaths of tens of thousands of Americans every year. They explain that Mexican drug trafficking groups buy the ingredients for fentanyl from China and then smuggle the drug into the U.S., according to RFA. Rubio stated that China has the ability to stop the flow of precursors right away but chose not to, according to the RFA report. "They could put an end to it if they wished. It raises the question in some cases, is this a purposeful act, like are they inundating us with fentanyl?" Rubio said, referring to the Opium Wars between British opium traders and China, as reported by RFA.

According to RFA, China struggled with widespread opium addiction during the Opium Wars, which took place between 1839 and 1842 and 1856 and 1860. The colonial British and French naval forces fought to force the country to continue buying opium and other goods from traffickers. RFA noted that Chinese officials blamed widespread opium addiction for a decline in social stability, similar to how U.S. officials today link fentanyl to crime, and they tried to ban the drug.

However, the "unequal treaties" that forced China to legalise opium and cede control of Hong Kong resulted from their failure in the wars. According to RFA, this signalled the start of "the century of humiliation" for China, a period that continues to influence Beijing's perspective today. According to an RFA report, U.S. President Donald Trump recently imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, saying it was a response to China's failure to limit the supply of certain raw materials. On Thursday, he warned that this tariff could increase by another 10% on March 4.