Biden removes Chinese institute from trade sanctions list in push for fentanyl help
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US President Joe Biden sought more cooperation from Beijing on fentanyl, in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - The Biden administration on Thursday removed the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science from a trade sanctions list, part of a bid to convince Beijing to do more to halt the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.
Washington put the institute on the list in 2020 over alleged abuses against Uighurs and other minority groups, effectively barring it from receiving most goods from US suppliers.
Former Chinese ambassador to the US Qin Gang in 2022 described it as “shocking” that the US, which had expressed frustration over Beijing’s lack of cooperation on fentanyl, would sanction an institute he described as essential to controlling the drug.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters had previously reported that the institute would be removed, as Mr Biden sought more cooperation from Beijing on fentanyl in a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Wednesday in San Francisco at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
As part of the meeting, the men agreed to create a working group on counter-narcotics cooperation. The White House’s National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment on what, beyond creating the working group, China pledged to do to stem shipments of the deadly narcotic.
The move was criticised by human rights activists and Republicans, who accused the Biden administration of going soft on Beijing over its treatment of Uighurs.
Ms Rayhan Asat, a human rights lawyer of Uighur heritage, said she recognised the pressing issue posed by fentanyl, but that the US decision raised questions about US commitment to addressing China’s rights abuses.
“The United States has a legal obligation, under federal law, to address atrocity crimes once they have been determined as such. The question then arises: Should addressing one issue take precedence over addressing the genocide? Can’t we address both?” she said.
Blocking fentanyl “precursor” chemicals has been a priority for Washington as the rate of overdose deaths involving the drug more than tripled from 2016 through 2021, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The removal, according to a notice posted in the Federal Register, came after a “removal proposal” was received and reviewed, the department said in the posting, by a committee composed of representatives of the departments of commerce, state, defence and energy, and sometimes, the Treasury. REUTERS
