APEC Summit is happening , in a bid to enhance collaboration with Beijing in curbing the influx of synthetic opioid fentanyl into the US , the Biden administration plans to remove restrictions on China’s Institute of Forensic Science.
The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported a more than threefold increase in fentanyl overdose deaths between 2016 and 2021. Consequently, impeding the flow of fentanyl “precursor” chemicals has become a top priority for Washington.
During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC Summit ) meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday, US President Biden plans to engage in discussions with China’s President Xi Jinping regarding the fentanyl issue.
During a statement on Tuesday, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan expressed Washington’s hope that the summit would yield measures to combat fentanyl trafficking. According to a source familiar with the plans, the United States is ready to lift restrictions on the Institute of Forensic Science, a division of China’s Ministry of Public Security.
In 2020, due to allegations of mistreatment of Uyghurs and other minority groups, Washington placed the institute on the Commerce Department’s “entity list,” thereby preventing it from acquiring exports from the United States. China has consistently questioned the rationale behind the United States singling out the institute while seeking cooperation on fentanyl.
Fentanyl, which is up to 50 times more potent than heroin, is increasingly combining with other illicit drugs, often causing fatal outcomes.Official estimates indicate that drug-related overdose deaths in the United States surpassed 100,000 in 2021.
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