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U.S. and Chinese officials announced this week that they are implementing an agreement signed in November between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at halting the flow of chemicals from China used to make fentanyl. We will hold a consultation meeting.
Jen Dascal, the White House’s vice president for homeland security, is scheduled to lead a delegation to Beijing for talks on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two countries will discuss efforts to crack down on exports of raw materials for fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid that has sparked a drug epidemic in the United States.
At their San Francisco summit, U.S. officials said Biden and Xi agreed to reinstate the counter-drug task force, which had been suspended as tensions between the two countries rose to the highest level since normalization in 1979. Since then, China has already taken positive actions. .
A U.S. official said China has issued guidance “notifying its chemical companies” that it will take action against groups involved in trafficking in fentanyl precursor chemicals. He said the Chinese government also took action against suppliers after the Biden-Xi summit.
After the Chinese government cracked down on fentanyl exports in 2019, Chinese groups shifted their focus to transporting chemical raw materials to drug cartels in Mexico, which then smuggled the finished product into the United States.
Tens of thousands of Americans have died each year from fentanyl overdoses in recent years, an issue expected to become an issue for Biden as he campaigns for re-election in November. There is.
U.S. officials said the Biden administration wants China to act more independently, not just respond to information provided by the United States.
“We want to get to a place where China wins. [People’s Republic of China] They can identify and take action against malicious actors or those whose behavior is clearly concerning,” officials said. “So the big challenge of this trip is to encourage independent action.”
As of Monday, dozens of fentanyl precursor suppliers had disappeared from Made-in-China.com, a website that connects customers with Chinese manufacturers. Most of the keywords related to fentanyl precursors were also unsuccessful, but one result was returned for (2-bromoethyl)benzene.
One company believed to be still supplying the chemicals said on WhatsApp that it was not shipping any products. Another vendor said it may ship BMK and PMK, two precursors to amphetamine and ecstasy.
China experts said they hope Beijing’s efforts to tackle fentanyl will help stabilize relations in a crucial year for bilateral ties given the U.S. presidential election.
“American society stands to benefit even more from this cooperation on fentanyl,” said Jie Dalei, a foreign affairs expert at Peking University. “But . . . cooperation in one area can prove that the two countries can indeed cooperate, despite all the other more contentious issues.”