After Biden’s Meeting with Xi, America Removes Chinese Lab from Fentanyl Sanctions List

After President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit, the United States has made a controversial move to drop a Chinese laboratory from its list of sanctions in the nation’s purported ‘fentanyl crackdown.’

“The continued listing of the (Institute of Forensic Science) on the list was a barrier to achieving cooperation on stopping the trafficking of precursor chemicals” used to make the synthetic opioid, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Thursday.

Washington had previously accused the IFS, which is part of China’s Ministry of Public Security, of being implicated in human rights crimes against the country’s Uyghur people. In 2020, it was added to a list of sanctioned countries.

During a conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping committed to tighten down on the manufacture of fentanyl compounds in China as the narcotic continues to enter the United States.

Beijing has described the IFS as critical to cracking down on precursor chemicals, which are frequently trafficked to Mexico and then used to manufacture fentanyl for illicit entry into the United States.

“When we evaluated the issue, and looked at all of the merits of delisting the IFS, ultimately we decided that given the steps China was going to take to take down precursor tracking, it was the appropriate step to take,” Miller said.

“We have to make tough decisions in this administration. And the decision that we’ve made is that we looked at the potential of saving American lives by securing this cooperation,” he added.

“It’s not the end of the story. We’re going to watch how China complies with the commitments that were made to us.”

One of several agreements struck by US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi when attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in California was the restoration of military-to-military links.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 110,000 drug overdose fatalities occurred in the United States between March 2022 and March 2023. Fentanyl was responsible for around two-thirds of them.