US and China Launch Efforts to Combat Fentanyl Crisis

US and China , Launch Efforts to Combat , Fentanyl Crisis.
On January 30, officials from the United States
and China met to discuss a joint effort to take action
on stemming the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
'TIME' reports that the meeting comes as a sign
of cooperation between the two global powers
to manage the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
The new counternarcotics working group met for
their first two-day meeting, focusing on ingredients
for the synthetic opioid that are manufactured in China.
In November of 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed
to resume cooperation on combating drug trafficking in a
meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in San Francisco.
In November of 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed
to resume cooperation on combating drug trafficking in a
meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in San Francisco.
The U.S. is looking for China to increase efforts
to curb the export of chemicals that are processed
into fentanyl before being smuggled into the U.S.
'TIME' reports that synthetic opioids like
fentanyl have emerged as the deadliest
killers in the ongoing U.S. drug crisis.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, over 100,000 deaths
were linked to drug overdoses in 2022.
Over two-thirds of those overdoses were linked
with fentanyl or other similar synthetic opioids.
In exchange for cooperation on combating the flow of
fentanyl, the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions imposed on
China in 2020 over human rights violations against Uyghurs.
In exchange for cooperation on combating the flow of
fentanyl, the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions imposed on
China in 2020 over human rights violations against Uyghurs.
According to State Department spokesperson
Matthew Miller, lifting the sanctions was
“an appropriate step to take” given what China was
willing to do on the trafficking of fentanyl precursors