Reuters-US set to take action to win Chinas cooperation on fentanyl
November 14, 2023 2 min 277 words
这则报道透露了美国政府为应对芬太尼在美国的泛滥问题，计划解除对中国法医科学研究院的限制，以促使中方合作。芬太尼合成类麻醉药物已经成为美国毒品危机的主要推手。通过开展与中国的合作，特别是放宽对中国法医科学研究院的限制，美国有望更有效地遏制芬太尼的生产和流入。然而，这一决定也引起争议，因为在过去的人权问题上，美国曾将该研究院列入实体清单。此次峰会将是一次平衡国家安全与人权关切的艰难抉择，关乎两国在此领域的合作。此举是否能在阻止芬太尼泛滥方面取得实质性进展，尚待时间验证。
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is set to remove restrictions on China's Institute of Forensic Science in a bid to step up cooperation with Beijing to halt the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl in the United States.
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 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Biden will discuss the issue with China's President Xi Jinping on Wednesday in San Francisco on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that Washington hoped the summit would result in action to help combat the fentanyl trade. A source familiar with plans said the U.S. was ready to remove restrictions on the Institute of Forensic Science, part of China's Ministry of Public Security.
Washington put the institute on the Commerce Department's "entity list" in 2020 over alleged abuses toward Uyghurs and other minority groups - effectively barring it from receiving U.S. exports. China has long questioned why the U.S. would expect cooperation on fentanyl while targeting the institute.
China's embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the fentanyl issue.
Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and is increasingly mixed with other illicit drugs, often with lethal results. U.S. drug-related overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 in 2021, according to government estimates.