Desperate to claim a victory against the scourge of fentanyl, President Joe Biden reportedly reached a deal with his Chinese counterpart to stem the flow of raw chemicals leaving the country for Mexican drug cartels.
The price, however, is believed to be high. In return for Chinese President Xi Jinping cracking down on production and export of precursor chemicals, the U.S. will turn a blind eye to Beijing’s notorious human rights abuses.
The two world leaders are meeting this week in San Francisco. The city rolled out the red carpet for Xi by engaging in a massive sweep of the homeless population to clean the streets for the communist leader.
Much of the despair that was swept under the rug by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is due to Biden’s fentanyl crisis. This same crisis is fueled by Chinese chemical exports.
In exchange for Chinese “cooperation” in the fight against deadly opioids, Biden would end restrictions on China’s Forensic Police Institute. The Commerce Department during the Trump administration prohibited its access to U.S. technology.
The CCP is our adversary – China has been poisoning Americans with fentanyl for years.
Biden must hold them accountable for their actions, and not cozy up to Xi Jinping under any circumstance. pic.twitter.com/MZjuyp4WNV
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) November 14, 2023
This was done over widespread concerns that the institute was directly involved in Beijing’s well-documented oppression of its Uyghur minority.
Some critics believe the deal will disappear if the Biden administration is critical of Xi and Chinese communists. And stopping the deluge of illegal drugs pouring across the border does not equate to giving up the moral high ground on human rights abuses.
In May, the Chinese embassy in Washington criticized restrictions based on human rights and linked it to drug interdiction. A spokesman said, “The U.S. sanctions against Chinese companies and citizens will add more obstacles to China-U.S. counter-narcotics cooperation.”
Apparently, these sanctions will no longer be a concern if Biden and Xi complete their agreement.
Bloomberg reported the deal is being hammered out but is not finalized. The outlet said that China “would go after chemical companies to stem the flow of both fentanyl and the source material used to make the deadly synthetic opioid.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that at least 150 Americans die every day from synthetic opioid overdoses. Some estimates put that number closer to 200.
Either way, fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45.
