US and China launch talks on fentanyl trafficking in a sign of cooperation amid differences
By KEN MORITSUGU
Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — American and Chinese officials met Tuesday to discuss joint efforts to stem the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., a sign of cooperation as the two global powers try to manage their contentious ties. The two-day meeting was the first for a new counternarcotics working group. One focus of the talks was fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that is ravaging America, and in particular ingredients for the drug that are made in China. The U.S. wants China to do more to curb the export of chemicals that it says are processed into fentanyl. The U.S. says the production is done largely in Mexico, and the final product is then smuggled into the United States.