Chinese president pledges to curb fentanyl chemical exports after Biden meeting

U.S. President Joe Biden said Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to crack down on shipments of precursor fentanyl chemicals and pill presses after an hours-long meeting in California on Wednesday. Biden explained their “new understanding” will save lives and reduce deaths from fentanyl. Biden also said the U.S. and Chinese militaries will reinstate direct communication lines. China abruptly ended direct military communication last year after then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. Biden said the pair also discussed the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza but gave no further details. Biden also stressed the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Straits and gave names of wrongfully detained persons he hopes may be released. He did not indicate Xi’s response to these conversations but said the pair intended to “preserve and pursue high-level diplomacy” in the future.

Can President Xi’s word be trusted? Biden said he has spent more time with Xi than with any other world leader. He explained that when he was vice president during the Obama administration, he and then vice president Xi spent over 60 hours of “just face-to-face discussion” with a simultaneous interpreter. Biden affirmed, “I think I know the man,” describing Xi as neither good nor bad but that he’s “been straight.” Biden said the pair agreed to “pick up the phone and call one another” to resolve issues moving forward, and the other would always answer.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Emily Belz’s report on finding hope after a funeral.