Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (C) reveals the launch of the U.S.-China Counternarcotics Working Group beside U.S. Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Jen Daskal (center L) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on January 30, 2024.
Ng Han Guan|Afp|Getty Images
BEIJING– The U.S. and China had a “productive” very first day of talks in Beijing about the fentanyl crisis, Jennifer Daskal, a deputy homeland security consultant, informed NBC News’ Janis Mackey Frayer in a special interview Tuesday.
“We’re looking for results and we had a productive step forward,” Daskal stated, while acknowledging the danger that China might utilize its sway over the fentanyl supply chain as a bargaining chip.
Fentanyl, an artificial opioid, is an addicting drug that’s caused 10s of countless overdose deaths each year in the U.S.
Reducing illegal materials of the drug, precursors of which are mainly produced in China and Mexico, has actually ended up being a location in which Washington and Beijing have actually consented to comply.
It comes in the middle of an otherwise laden bilateral relationship.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping concurred at their conference in San Francisco in November to develop a working group on drug control.
In a main readout of Tuesday’s conference, Wang Xiaohong, director of China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, stated he hoped both sides would “inject more positive energy” into the steady advancement of U.S.-China relations.
Wang is likewise the Minister of Public Security.
The Biden administration in November got rid of the Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science of China from a blacklist called the entity list, in impact lifting sanctions on its narcotics laboratory.
That elimination permits China’s National Narcotics Lab to fix or purchase brand-new devices– mainly made in the U.S.– and decrease hold-ups in research study, laboratory director Hua Zhendong informed NBC News’ Mackey Frayer.
Greater bilateral cooperation permits the 2 nations to exchange info about drugs more quickly, Hua stated.
“Only through the information exchange could we know which substance is now a key problem in the U.S., because it’s only evolving.”
‘More requires to be done’
The two-day conference that started Tuesday was billed as the “Inauguration of the China-U.S. Counternarcotics Working Group.”
Daskal, leader of the White House delegation for today’s top-level talks, stated the variety of agents from both sides “showed a real commitment.”
“We will know if it works if we start seeing the supply of precursor drugs diminish, if we start seeing the supply of pill presses and other equipment diminish,” Daskal stated. She explained that Beijing has actually currently sent out notifications to Chinese business that make precursors for fentanyl, which events are being reported to the International Narcotics Control.
“There’s obviously more that needs to be done,” she stated.
It’s uncertain to what degree Beijing wants, or able, to act.
Earlier this month, Yu Haibin, deputy secretary-general of the National Narcotics Control Commission, informed NBC News that the “root cause” of the fentanyl crisis lies within the U.S.
“Demand needs to be reduced, as controlling demand will naturally curb supply,” Yu informed NBC’s Mackey Frayer.
“I want to emphasize the global nature of drug crimes. These criminals work very closely together. Our law enforcement agencies need to collaborate even more closely than the criminals so there can be a robust response to these crimes,” Yu stated.
He is likewise deputy director general of the Ministry of Public Security’s Narcotics Control Bureau.
Asked about the concern of U.S. fentanyl need, Daskal stated the 2 delegations invested the majority of Tuesday going over “the fact that this is a problem of both demand and supply.”
“We spoke about the requirement … to attend to the supply of the tablet, procedure and other devices that are utilized to make these fatal drugs, and to typically conceal them and develop phony tablets that appear like they’re other things [that] ended up being fatal fentanyl,” Daskal stated.
