Dear Focus Reader,

This week marked the inaugural meeting of the first counternarcotics working group between China and the U.S. in Beijing. The gathering aimed to follow up to the Woodside summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November, where they agreed to step up efforts in the fight against illicit drugs.

Fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid, was a primary focus of the two-day meeting. Washington believes China is the main source of the chemicals used to make fentanyl by drug cartels in Mexico, though China has denied these claims. With this, the U.S. wants China to increase curbs on the export of these chemicals.

The inter-agency U.S. delegation was led by Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Jen Daskal, who emphasized that "synthetic drugs are killing so many thousands of people" and the "significant" delegation sent by the Biden administration underscores "the importance of this issue to the American people."

Additionally, Chinese Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong said the two sides had in-depth and pragmatic talks. "We reached common understanding on the work plan for the working group," he noted.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan elaborated on the Biden Administration's China strategy in an address this week and said they will continue to maintain their approach of de-risking, intensive interaction, and building stability into the world's most consequential relationship. He also expressed the U.S.'s intent to deepen crisis communication mechanisms with the PRC to reduce the risk of conflict, and coordinate on areas of shared bilateral and global concern.

Sullivan's remarks followed his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Bangkok last weekend, where the two officials agreed that there is "no substitute for leader-to-leader conversation," and that they hope to arrange a phone call for Xi and Biden in the near future.

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