Biden admin weighs lifting some China sanctions — despite alleged human rights abuses — in exchange for cooperation combating fentanyl crisis: Report

The Biden administration is considering lifting some sanctions on China in exchange for the Chinese Communist Party’s cooperation in combating the fentanyl crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the WSJ, Chinese officials are demanding the Biden administration remove sanctions against the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science, a police forensics institute accused of committing human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The CCP denied the allegations and claimed that the sanctions, which were instated by the Trump administration three years ago, have hindered the country’s ability to utilize the institute’s narcotics lab to prevent the drug crisis.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 100,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2022.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration launched the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, which called on nations to join forces to thwart the drug crisis. The coalition’s first meeting, led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was held earlier this month and attended by 97 countries and organizations.

Despite China being “the primary source of fentanyl,” according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, CCP officials declined to join the coalition’s meeting. Chinese companies have shipped precursor chemicals and machinery used to make fentanyl to Mexican cartels.

The State Department told the New York Post that Chinese officials have “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,” the department stated, referring to Blinken’s June trip.

“We’ve made very clear to the PRC that we are open to resuming cooperation on dealing with synthetic opioids and fentanyl,” the department continued. “We will continue to use all tools available to the United States to disrupt the global fentanyl supply chain.”

In retaliation to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D) visit to Taiwan last year, the CCP halted its joint counternarcotics efforts with the U.S.

Someone familiar with the situation told the WSJ that Chinese officials “haven’t agreed to anything yet, and we are a little stalled on where to go.”

China’s Foreign Ministry told the outlet, “If the U.S. genuinely wants to resolve its domestic drug problem, then it should respect the facts, withdraw the sanctions, and stop smearing and scapegoating.”

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