Biden and Xi close to a fentanyl deal (on the backs of the Uyghurs)

Tomorrow's summit in San Francisco could result in China banning the export of the chemical components of the opioid that has caused tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States. The price for this is the lifting of sanctions on the Chinese Institution of Forensic Medicine, accused of covering up human rights violations in Xinjiang.

San Francisco (AsiaNews) – On the eve of the long-awaited meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, scheduled for tomorrow in San Francisco on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, the issue of fighting fentanyl trafficking is at the top of the agenda.

According to Bloomberg, the two leaders could sign an agreement on combating the illegal spread of the very powerful synthetic opioid that has become the number one cause of deaths among drug addicts in the United States.

The issue has long been one of the main topics on the table in Sino-US relations. Washington accuses Beijing of complicity with Chinese companies that export the chemical components used in the production of fentanyl.

The powerful narcotic analgaesic is about 80 times more powerful than morphine, and improper use can lead to addiction.

As the fentanyl crisis continues to get worse in the United States, drug deaths nationwide hit a new record 109,680 in 2022 with about two thirds of all overdose deaths involving a synthetic opioid, according to preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

China has always maintained that it has already cracked down on fentanyl production and export. But in reality, Chinese companies have continued to export the components to Mexican cartels, which then smuggle the drug into the United States.

Frosty relations between Washington and Beijing have also made progress in the matter impossible.

Now, China has agreed to prosecute the companies that produce the chemical components used to produce fentanyl, which is an important domestic development for the Biden administration.

The deal, however, requires a major concession from the United States, namely lifting sanctions against the Chinese government’s Institution of Forensic Science, which is accused of conducting mass surveillance and human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.

Imposed in 2020, these sanctions were explicitly motivated by the institute’s involvement in abuses committed in China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labour, and high-tech surveillance against Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

Photo: Flickr /Elvert Barnes

• china
• united states
• fentanyl
• joe biden
• xi jinping
• agreement
• xinjiang
• uyghurs