WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Apr 7: Former CIA official Dennis Wilder has said there is little likelihood of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping anytime soon.
“We are far away from a Xi-Trump meeting right now. I don’t think it will happen any time soon,” he told the South China Morning Post.
The former CIA deputy director for East Asia said “…and the reason is that China has not responded appropriately to President Trump, who has made clear that before negotiations can begin, China needs to take positive steps on the fentanyl problem.”
Elaborating on the issue, he said “What has China done China has told Trump that he should thank China for what they have done on fentanyl. They have issued a white paper suggesting that they’ve done all they can. But fentanyl from China continues to be caught at the American border in large numbers.
“So how is it that all of this fentanyl is still coming to the United States if Beijing is doing such a good job ”
The constant stream of fentanyl coming from China has been a major issue in the US, as it has caused an addiction epidemic in many areas. While China criminalised the production of the very powerful analgesic (painkiller) in the country, it has done little about its supply overseas.
As the drug is over 80 times more potent than heroin, it has been used in narcotics production and illegally smuggled into the United States by drug cartels and crime syndicates, causing major law and order problems.
Wilder said that for any official meeting to take place between Xi and Trump, “Beijing needs to unilaterally take steps, such as imprisoning the people involved in the fentanyl trade, sentencing them, and punishing the companies involved. Until it takes those steps, I don’t think Trump is very interested in negotiations.”
Accusing Beijing of using fentanyl as a tool for political leverage against Washington, he said “My problem is, China has used this fentanyl issue as a political card. When relations were good, China did a little more on fentanyl, but when relations were bad, China did nothing.
“China needs to stop using this card, because a huge number of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45 die every year. It is the largest killer of people in that age group. This should not be a political negotiation. China could do the right thing.”
The situation between China and the US has continued to deteriorate, as the second Trump administration’s global trade tariffs were particularly very high on China, which is among the largest trade partners of the US. In his ‘reciprocal tariffs’ Trump had introduced an additional 34% tariffs on Chinese goods as part of steep levies imposed on most US trade partners, bringing the total duties on China this year to 54%. (UNI)
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