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The Biden years taught us to distrust Beijing’s promises, so when FBI Director Kash Patel announced that China had agreed to list 13 fentanyl precursors and restrict seven related chemicals, hardworking Americans had every right to be cautiously optimistic — not celebratory. This is a potentially enormous tactical win if it holds, and the announcement following high-level meetings and a recent summit was presented as a concrete step to choke off the pipeline of death into our communities. We should welcome any reduction in the flow of these deadly drugs, but hope is not a strategy.
Credit where credit is due: the White House and FBI framed this as the result of tough diplomacy that included tariff leverage and direct engagement with Xi, a reminder that strength, not appeasement, produces results. Conservative policymakers have pushed for exactly this kind of pressure — a simple, forceful demand that China stop shipping the building blocks of American tragedy. Don’t let anyone tell you diplomacy means weakness; it means using every tool to protect American lives.
But skepticism is healthy and necessary, and China-watchers like Gordon Chang are right to call out Beijing’s long history of saying one thing and doing another. The Chinese Communist Party has long weaponized ambiguity and red tape to frustrate enforcement, and until independent verifiable inspections and prosecutions are visible, promises are just words. Chang’s cautionary note should be the conservative baseline: demand verification, not press releases.
The grim reality is that illicit networks adapt quickly — Chinese syndicates have previously funneled precursors through Mexico, Canada, and other countries to evade scrutiny, and recent reporting shows traffickers constantly changing routes. FBI work with partners like India and other allies has been necessary to trace and disrupt these complex supply chains, which means the fight cannot be purely rhetorical. If China truly intends to stop the flow, it must allow audits, prosecutions, and ongoing cooperation with U.S. law enforcement.
What conservatives must demand now is a hard verification regime: on-the-ground inspections, open prosecutions of manufacturers and shippers, and immediate penalties if China fails to act — not a one-off press conference. We also need to secure our southern border, fund interdiction, and choke off the cartels’ ability to manufacture and distribute fentanyl here at home. Strengthen supply-chain resilience and end our dependence on adversarial regimes for critical chemicals and components.
This moment is a test of whether America will actually hold adversaries accountable or settle for soothing words and political photo-ops. Patriots know our neighbors, our children, and our veterans are paying the price while Washington debates semantics — it’s time for results. Demand transparency, back the men and women in law enforcement, and keep the pressure on Beijing until every promise is proven in court and on the ground.
