Under strained circumstances, Biden, Xi scheduled to talk trade
PBS NewsHourOct 30, 2023
Report: Biden, Xi to Announce Deal to Crack Down on Fentanyl
Image copyright:Â Win McNamee/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
US Pres. Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will reportedly announce a new deal to crack down on the manufacturing and trade of fentanyl-producing chemicals at their summit meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday.
Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the negotiations, that Beijing would target companies producing the drug and exporting its precursor chemicals in exchange for China's Institution of Forensic Science — allegedly involved in human rights abuses in Xinjiang — to be taken off US blacklist.
The Spin
Anti-China narrative
After years of allowing the flow of precursor chemicals to Mexican cartels to fuel the fentanyl crisis that has decimated multiple American cities, Xi Jinping has apparently agreed to clean his own mess. And while this agreement is certainly a positive breakthrough, it's vital to understand that Beijing will stop enforcing the fentanyl deal if Washington ever criticizes Xi or the Chinese Communist Party.
Pro-China narrative
Hopefully, the US seems to have come to its senses after unreasonably imposing sanctions on Chinese institutions and individuals that were allegedly connected to the US homemade fentanyl crisis. Progress was made when both countries cooperated in good faith, so it would be great news if Washington finally decided to restore cooperation in the arena of drug control.