Biden Overdose Awareness Week proclamation makes no mention of China fentanyl

WASHINGTON – President Biden declared next week Drug Overdose Awareness Week on Friday, pledging “bold action” to address the highest number of drug-related deaths on record – but failed to name China as the main exporter of smuggled fentanyl responsible for the rising death toll.

“Every loss is a painful reminder that we must take bold action to end our Nation’s overdose epidemic. During Overdose Awareness Week, we reaffirm our commitment to overcoming this public health and public safety epidemic – in memory of all we have lost and to protect all the lives we can still save,” Biden said in a statement.

The number of US drug overdose deaths rose slightly last year to nearly 111,000, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fentanyl is the leading cause, killing about 76,000 Americans in 2022, up from about 72,000 in 2021, according to CDC data.

Deaths have risen sharply under Biden, who rarely mentions that China is a major producer of powerful synthetic opioids that are mixed into drugs like cocaine and fake prescriptions, killing young users unknowingly and disproportionately.

President Biden declared Drug Overdose Awareness Week next week, pledging “bold action” to address the highest number of drug-related deaths on record. Getty Images

About 58,000 Americans died from fentanyl in 2020 during former President Donald Trump’s final year in office, though that number was up significantly from more than 37,000 in 2019 and about 32,000 in 2018.

China decided against counter-narcotics negotiations with the US in protest of the visit of then Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last August.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the Biden administration was considering easing unrelated sanctions on Chinese officials in exchange for renewed cooperation.

Republicans have generally been more aggressive against China on issues ranging from fentanyl deaths to the need for transparency about the origins of COVID-19 and have made it a campaign issue ahead of next year’s election.

The number of US drug overdose deaths rose slightly last year to nearly 111,000, according to data from the CDC.TNS

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, said Wednesday at the first Republican primary debate that “the Chinese are engaging in acts of war against us, killing our people. We better make that a priority in our conversations with China.” “

The five-year US death toll from fentanyl is about 275,000.

By comparison, US officials estimate that about 190,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have died in 18 months of fierce fighting.

Trump, who is the top-polling Republican presidential candidate despite facing four criminal charges, has accused Biden of being tied to Beijing over a pair of business deals involving his son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden – and in which Joe Biden is also allegedly involved.

Trump claimed in a video published last week that Biden “was bribed and now he’s being blackmailed” by China.

“He is very afraid of China because they know how much money has been given to him and they know where it is. China has paid him a lot of money,” said Trump, who routinely cited the source of fentanyl as president and claimed he pressured Chinese President Xi Jinping to adopt the death penalty for exporters.

Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said earlier this month, “Over the past several months, [Biden] sent three members of his administration to cozy up to China and do nothing about fentanyl,” referring to recent visits by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry.

Biden did not mention fentanyl during the public portion of his first meeting with Xi last November and did not mention it during the public portion of the virtual meeting with Xi in 2021.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, said that “the Chinese are engaging in acts of war against us, killing our people. We better make that a priority in our conversations with China.” AP

Although Biden did not name China — or Mexico, through which most of the fentanyl from China is smuggled — his 820-word Overdose Awareness Week proclamation praised the administration’s efforts to intercept the drug at the US border.

“My administration … is disrupting the flow of illegal drugs by making it more expensive to bring killer drugs into America; pursuing the profits of drug dealers; and targeting their financial networks, supply chains and delivery routes, including on the internet,” he said.

“We have strengthened coordination and information sharing among our domestic intelligence and law enforcement agencies to destroy drug traffickers and their networks. To date, my Administration has seized more than 1.6 million pounds of drugs before they cross the border and enter our communities, including more than 42,500 pounds of illegally produced fentanyl.”

Fentanyl will kill about 76,000 Americans in 2022, according to CDC data.REUTERS

Biden added: “Drug overdose deaths increased in 2022 after a sharp increase from 2019 to 2021. Now, we must redouble this work, which is why my proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024 requests a historic $46.1 billion for national drug control programs. “

Meanwhile, House lawmakers are threatening to launch an impeachment inquiry as early as next month into Biden’s role in his family’s affairs in countries like China during and immediately after his vice presidency.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) this month called on Biden to “give us his bank records” to show he wasn’t involved.

Biden has sought to deflect questions about financial conflicts of interest in China, claiming in March “that’s not true” when asked about three relatives — Hunter, James and daughter-in-law Hallie — receiving $1 million from a Chinese energy company in early 2017, according to subpoenaed bank records issued by the Monitoring Committee.

He muttered, “Give me a break, man” in February when asked if his ability to manage US-China relations was “compromised.”

Hunter Biden founded the government-backed China investment fund BHR Partners in 2013 — just 12 days after he joined then-VP Biden on Air Force Two for an official visit to Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Hunter introduced his father to BHR CEO Jonathan Li during a visit to the Chinese capital and Joe Biden later wrote college recommendation letters for Li’s children.

Hunter’s former business partner Devon Archer told the Oversight Committee in a July 31 interview that Joe Biden had coffee with Li during the 2013 trip — rather than just a handshake as previously reported — and that Hunter put his father on speaker phone with Li during subsequent business trip to Beijing.

Hunter Biden held a 10% stake in BHR through at least part of his father’s first year in office and the status of his alleged divestment at the end of 2021 remains unclear.

The White House refused to provide any transparency following claims by Hunter’s legal team that he no longer held the shares.

Although Biden did not name China or Mexico, his Drug Overdose Awareness Week proclamation praised the administration’s efforts to intercept drugs at the US border. AP

Internal BHR documents allegedly show Hunter’s “sugar brother”, Kevin Morris, a wealthy Hollywood lawyer he met at a 2019 fundraiser, may have taken a controlling interest.

First cousins ​​James Biden and Hunter later launched a second business venture in China with another government-linked company, CEFC China Energy, which forms part of Beijing’s “Belt and Road” campaign of foreign influence.

Joe Biden allegedly met twice with his brother’s son and CEFC partner, and referred to him as a “big man” and asked for a 10% cut in a May 2017 email.

“For the past few months, [Biden] sent three members of his administration to cozy up to China and do nothing about fentanyl,” said former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (above). Getty Images

Two of Hunter Biden’s former allies in the effort, Tony Bobulinski and James Gilliar, have identified the president as a “big man.”

Bobulinski claimed that he discussed the CEFC deal with Joe Biden, and an October 2017 email from Hunter Biden’s laptop identified him as a participant in a call about CEFC’s attempt to buy US natural gas.

The CEFC relationship apparently began around 2015 when Hunter connected with Vuk Jeremic, the former Serbian foreign minister and president of the United Nations General Assembly who is running for UN secretary general.

About 58,000 Americans died from fentanyl in 2020 during former President Donald Trump’s last full year in office, according to reports. US Customs and Border Protection
“Drug overdose deaths increased in 2022 after a sharp increase from 2019 to 2021. Now, we must redouble this work, which is why my proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024 requests a historic $46.1 billion for national drug control programs,” President Biden said. Getty Images

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who investigated Hunter for three and five years respectively, said in recent congressional testimony that Justice Department officials prevented them from investigating Joe Biden’s role in business dealings, even though the communications mentioned it directly.

Shapley revealed a threatening WhatsApp message on July 30, 2017 in which Hunter wrote he was “sitting here with my dad” and threatened retaliation if the deal was canceled, immediately before the transfer of $5.1 million from CEFC China Energy to a Biden-related account — in addition to more than $1 million that was transferred earlier this year.

Hunter also received a 3.16 carat diamond from CEFC founder Ye Jianming in 2017.

Hunter Biden wrote in an email taken from his former laptop that he had to give “half” of his income to Joe Biden, and the House Oversight Committee in May identified nine members of the Biden family who allegedly received foreign income.

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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/