Biden administration may lift some China sanctions linked to abuse to deal with fentanyl crisis: report
The Biden administration may lift sanctions against a Chinese police agency accused of committing human-rights abuses in exchange for help with the fentanyl crisis, according to a new report.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the prospect of renewed cooperation between the countries in cracking down on the deadly drug with Foreign Minister Qin Gang during his June visit to Beijing — but China apparently insisted on the quid pro quo, the Wall Street Journal said Monday.
The Biden administration is now discussing whether to lift US restrictions on the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science, which the Trump White House sanctioned in 2020, alleging that it was participating in a mass surveillance campaign against Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang.
China is reportedly claiming that the sanctions must be lifted on the agency if the US wants the country’s help battling fentanyl — because the institute has a narcotics lab that would be crucial in the war on the drug.
Chinese companies have helped fuel the fentanyl scourge by shipping chemicals required for its production to Mexican cartels.
Sources familiar with the proposed US-China deal told the outlet that Chinese officials “haven’t agreed to anything yet, and we are a little stalled on where to go.”
A State Department rep told The Post on Monday, “The [People’s Republic of China] has so far declined to respond to our persistent efforts to resume bilateral cooperation on counternarcotics issues.
“During the Secretary’s visit to Beijing, he underscored the importance of greater cooperation to disrupt the global flow of synthetic drugs and their precursor chemicals into the United States, which fuels the fentanyl crisis.
“We’ve made very clear to the PRC that we are open to resuming cooperation on dealing with synthetic opioids and fentanyl,” the representative added. “We will continue to use all tools available to the United States to disrupt the global fentanyl supply chain.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry had told the Journal: “If the US genuinely wants to resolve its domestic drug problem, then it should respect the facts, withdraw the sanctions, and stop smearing and scapegoating.”
The Post’s request for comment to the ministry was not returned.
The Chinese Communist Party has forced many Uyghurs into “re-education” camps in the region and even forcibly sterilized women to curb the population.
China stalled joint counternarcotics efforts with the US last year in protest of another hot-button issue — then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
The Journal report also comes days after Chinese government-linked entities, in a display of further aggression against the US, apparently hacked the email accounts of US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink.
Vice President Kamala Harris met last week with US state attorneys general to address rising drug overdose deaths and the trafficking of fentanyl, which she said was occuring “throughout our country and across our borders.”
The White House in April said it was forming a “global coalition” to fight the synthetic opioid and would strengthen federal law enforcement efforts on the southwest border.
US Customs and Border Protection has seized 22,000 pounds of fentanyl so far in fiscal year 2023, compared with 8,300 pounds of the drug over the same period last year, data show.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and former Attorney General Bill Barr, among others, have argued the US military should be authorized to deal with the cartels.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data in May showing 107,573 drug overdose deaths occurred in the US in 2022.
