Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently highlighted the need for greater cooperation from China on the production of fentanyl, an opioid linked to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States in recent years.
Blinken made his comments during an interview with CBS News on Monday, warning that some Chinese firms inadvertently ship fentanyl precursors to the wrong people, and “this is an area where we want and need to see real cooperation.”
When asked whether the Chinese state is deliberately manufacturing fentanyl for the US market, Blinken responded, “We’ve seen cooperation from them in the past and that’s made a difference. That halted, more or less, over the last few years. They have issues that they’ve raised to try to explain why they’re not doing as much as they can.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid up to 100 times stronger than morphine and is linked to a rising number of overdose deaths in the United States. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than during the 12 months ending in May 2020, overdose deaths linked to fentanyl and related synthetic opioids rose to over 73,000 across the US, a 25 percent increase.
The rising availability of fentanyl has increased pressure on the Biden administration to address the issue, with Blinken leading an effort to cooperate with China on tackling its production. Blinken previously noted that when China scheduled fentanyl as a prohibited substance in 2017, the flow of manufactured fentanyl from China into the United States largely stopped. However, over the years, the production and trafficking of fentanyl precursors from China to other countries, primarily Mexico, has continued.
Despite much cooperation between the US and China on multiple issues in the past, the Biden administration will be pushing hard during the upcoming strategic dialogue talks between the two countries for greater cooperation on fentanyl production. Blinken noted, “I made very clear to China that this is an area where we want and need to see real cooperation. … I believe this is an area where the United States and China can and must work together. It’s not about pointing fingers. It’s simply finding a way to cooperate.”
Biden and his administration have made tackling the opioid crisis in the US a national priority, and if successful, the upcoming talks with China could prove to be a significant step forward in combating the production of fentanyl.
