US, China launch working group to address opioid crisis
- White House Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Jen Daskal to lead delegation with officials from departments of state, treasury and homeland security
- Overdoses involving opioids killed over 80,000 in the US in 2021, according to US data
Senior officials from the US and China will meet in Beijing on Tuesday to launch what is described as a high-level working group to resume formal bilateral cooperation on counternarcotics almost two years after Beijing suspended all assistance on the issue in 2022.
The American delegation to the Chinese capital will be led by White House Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Jen Daskal and include officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as departments of justice, state, treasury and homeland security.
A senior Biden administration official told reporters on Sunday that a “big goal” of the meeting was “continued pressure, continued dialogue” to encourage joint law enforcement actions and improve communication on illicit financing and new chemicals.
US officials have claimed that Beijing has acted against suppliers of chemicals and precursors in China to curb the flow of opioids since the Xi-Biden bilateral.
“We saw a company shut down. We saw international payment accounts blocked”, a senior Biden administration official said on Sunday, citing “reductions” in precursor chemicals seized at some US airports originating from China.
Overdoses involving opioids killed over 80,000 people in the US in 2021, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 88 per cent of those deaths involved low-cost and highly potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl or similar drugs.
More people in the US between the ages of 18 and 49 die from fentanyl than any other cause.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, China is a “primary source” of ingredients used in manufacturing fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances illegally brought into the US largely by Mexican cartels.
US officials on Sunday said that China had initiated “some conversations” with Mexico, adding “this is going to have to be an issue that goes beyond just the US, China and Mexico, Canada” since many countries were battling illicit opioids.
