Fentanyl as a Tool of Authoritarian Export:
China’s Strategy of Social Erosion
Fentanyl as a Tool of Authoritarian Export: China’s Strategy of Social Erosion
By Peggy Yuan | 07/16/2025
Introduction
America’s fentanyl crisis is often described as a domestic public health emergency, fueled by international crime. But this framing misses a deeper geopolitical dimension: the strategic use of synthetic opioids as an instrument of authoritarian statecraft.
China, as the world’s leading supplier of fentanyl precursors, plays a central role. Yet its involvement reflects more than just regulatory gaps, but represents the global projection of authoritarian control logic, where weakening, destabilizing, and disorienting other societies becomes a deliberate geopolitical strategy.
image from SCMP.com
The “Weakening the People” Doctrine: An Enduring Political Logic
The idea of disempowering populations to secure political control has deep roots in Chinese history:
Laozi, Dao De Jing (Chapter 65):
“The ancient masters did not seek to enlighten the people, but to keep them ignorant. Governing becomes difficult when the people are too clever.”
(“古之善为道者，非以明民，将以愚之。民之难治，以其智多。”)Confucius, Analects (8:9):
“The people may be guided in action, but not allowed to understand the reasons why.”
(“民可使由之，不可使知之。”)
These doctrines continue to shape China’s authoritarian governance, where social control is prioritized over empowerment, and ignorance is managed as a tool of stability.
Authoritarian Control Exported Abroad
CCP’s domestic control model is built on three pillars:
Fear – enforced by surveillance, censorship, and punishment.
Dependency – maintaining citizen reliance on the state for security, opportunity, and information.
Cognitive Control – monopolizing narratives to prevent independent understanding of global affairs.
Today, this system is no longer confined within China’s borders. It is purposefully exported internationally and erode CCP’s rivals from within.
Soft Weaponization: The Unrestricted Warfare Model
China’s strategy is rooted in a tradition of asymmetric, non-kinetic conflict:
Sun Tzu, The Art of War:
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without open fighting.”
(不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也)
Mao Zedong: "Our revolution relies on two weapons: the gun (coercion) and the pen (thought control)."
(我们的革命是靠两杆子，一是枪杆子，一是笔杆子。1942)
Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui, Unrestricted Warfare (1999):
Warfare in the modern era must include financial, psychological, and social disruption alongside military action.
Fentanyl: A Biochemical Weapon of Social Fragmentation
Facts:
China is the primary global source of fentanyl precursors, often shipping them through Mexico into U.S. markets.
(U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 2022)Chinese suppliers exploit legal loopholes, producing unregulated “designer precursors” to evade controls.
(DEA, 2023)Despite China’s 2019 ban on fentanyl-class substances, precursor enforcement remains weak and selective.
Why the CCP Allows It
China maintains extraordinary stringent domestic surveillance and regulatory control:
Every citizen’s digital footprint is monitored in real time.
Sensitive words online trigger censorship or bans within seconds.
Chemical and pharmaceutical industries are heavily regulated.
However, in the case of fentanyl precursors, Beijing displays not mere strategic indifference but tacit approval, reflecting a deeper, malign intent, which is consistent with authoritarian logic:
Domestically: Suppress knowledge to maintain control.
Internationally: Allow social corrosion abroad to weaken rivals without direct confrontation.
Soft Subversion of Democracies
China’s cognitive warfare starts early. Children as young as 3 are indoctrinated in nationalist sacrifice rituals, fostering obedience from a young age.
This strategy extends internationally through platforms like TikTok, which shapes youth perceptions while collecting data, a tool for disinformation and psychological influence.
Simultaneously, the opioid epidemic serves as a biochemical targeting the young:
70,000+ fentanyl-related deaths occurred in 2023 (CDC, 2024).
Addiction devastates marginalized communities, crippling local governance.
National focus shifts from strategic competition to internal crisis management.
This is not accidental harm; it is part of a broader authoritarian playbook aimed at weakening democracies from within.
Conclusion
The fentanyl crisis is more than a public health catastrophe. It represents a geopolitical strategy of social erosion, consistent with the 2,250-year-old authoritarian logic of "weakening the people" to consolidate control.
Today, that strategy targets CCP’s rival nations, particularly their youth, eroding societal resilience without firing a single shot.
Strategic Questions for Democracies
How can democracies counter the soft weaponization of chemical, informational, and psychological tools?
Should public health resilience and cognitive security be redefined as core pillars of national defense?
What strategies can confront not only the material exports of chemical precursors, but also their export of ideological subversion?
References
Ames, R. T., & Hall, D. L. (2003). Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation. Ballantine Books.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2024). Fentanyl Overdose Data. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/opioids
Confucius. (1938). The Analects (trans. A. Waley). George Allen & Unwin.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). (2023). Fentanyl Flow in the United States. DEA Strategic Report.
Griffith, S. B. (Trans.). (1963). The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Oxford University Press.
Mao, Z. (1942). Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art.
Qiao, L., & Wang, X. (1999). Unrestricted Warfare. PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House.
U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. (2022). 2022 Annual Report to Congress.