US praises China action on fentanyl but sees political risks

WASHINGTON: The United States has seen important action by China on curbing fentanyl, a senior official said Friday after talks in Beijing, but he acknowledged the risk that friction between the two powers could “blow up” progress.

Making good on a commitment during a November summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, a US delegation held an inaugural meeting this week in China on the flow of fentanyl, the powerful painkiller behind an addiction epidemic in the United States.

“We recognized some initial steps by the PRC,” said Todd Robinson, the assistant secretary of state dealing with narcotics and law enforcement, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“Is it significant? Absolutely,” he told reporters on his return to Washington, while adding that the action was not yet enough.

US officials have long charged that China is complicit in the trade of fentanyl, which is many times more powerful than heroin and is responsible for more than 70,000 overdose deaths a year in the United States.

China banned fentanyl exports in 2019 but US officials say that it is still the primary source of precursor chemicals to the synthetic opioid, which are then put together by cartels in Mexico and smuggled into the United States.

Since Xi promised Biden at the summit in California that China would act, “it is clear they have gone to certain companies and either warned them or shut them down,” Robinson said.

He also credited Beijing with sending a general warning to chemical producers and sharing information with the Viennabased International Narcotics Control Board.

He said that China had the power to act, explaining that after the 2019 ban on exporting fentanyl, “it stopped almost immediately.”