White House Watch

In 2.5-Hour Conversation With China’s Xi, Biden Mentions COVID Origins And Fentanyl Zero Times

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President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping for 2.5 hours Thursday, but neither party indicated discussing the origins of COVID-19 or drug smuggling from China that is wreaking havoc in the U.S.

Biden and Xi discussed “a range of issues,” including Taiwan, and the White House readout identified “climate change and health security” as areas where follow-up activity from U.S. and Chinese officials would be required. However, it did not indicate whether Biden pressed Xi on the unsolved investigation into COVID-19 origins in China or how China is contributing to an opioid crisis in the U.S.

“The call was a part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the PRC and responsibly manage our differences and work together where our interests align,” according to the readout.

White House spokesperson John Kirby stonewalled a reporter’s questions on whether fentanyl and COVID-19 origins would be discussed in a press briefing Wednesday.

A longer readout of the call from the Chinese Foreign Ministry mentions global security challenges and a need for the U.S. and China to moderate their competitive behavior and inflammatory rhetoric. It confirmed Biden’s statement that “U.S.-China cooperation benefits not only the two peoples but also people of all countries.”

Xi discussed economic problems facing the world and efforts to eliminate COVID-19, and he reiterated his opposition to Taiwan’s independence as a matter of Chinese national security, according to the readout. “Those who play with fire will perish by it,” he said.

China has systematically obscured evidence that could help researchers discover the origins of the COVID-19 virus, and ongoing inquiries remain mired in politics and controversy. While some researchers suspect the virus grew out of a labjointly operated by U.S. and Chinese scientists, others argue it came from a wet market in the Wuhan province. (RELATED: Internal Documents Reveal CDC Worked With Big Tech To Censor COVID-19 Speech)

Fentanyl, an opioid of which relatively small amounts can prove fatal, produced in China and smuggled across the U.S. southern border with Mexico fueled a record number of overdose deaths in 2021, according to the CDC.

Biden has held several calls with his Chinese counterpart since taking office, but none of the readouts, short summaries of Biden’s phone calls, have mentioned illicit drug production. China denies being the world’s largest producer of fentanyl.

Lawmakers say Biden is not doing enough to stem the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

“China remains the primary source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked through international mail and express consignment operations environment, as well as the main source for all fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the United States,” the Drug Enforcement Agency wrote in a 2020 report.

The White House, the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. and the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s question regarding the contents of Biden and Xi’s call.

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2 Comments

  1. We’re in a Cold War with China that they’ve already won and most Americans are ignorant because the Politicians want them to be.

    90% of our pharmaceuticals are produced in China. Who allowed that to happen? Most of our computer chips (that are vital for everything from our military equipment, cars, obviously computers, infrastructure and even all our appliances) come from either China or Taiwan. They are over 300,000 Chinese students in American Universities (getting advance degrees in science and technology, not gender studies) where many end up employed in our government and are obligated, by Chinese law, to spy for the CCP if asked. The Chinese are allowed to buy huge amounts of American farmland and whatever corporations they want. Smithfield ham (which was America’s largest pork producer) is now owned by the Chinese. Eric Swalwell (who is on the House “intelligence committee”) slept with a Chinese spy and was never investigated or suffered any consequences. Diane Feinstein had a Chinese spy in her staff for twenty years with no investigation or consequence. And, oh yeah, China continues to upgrade and increase its military capabilities, including hypersonic missiles which we don’t even have. Meanwhile our military can’t even meet 40% of its recruiting goals, is discharging up to a hundred thousand (including elite Navy SEALS and Army Rangers) who refuse to get vaccinated, and is busy teaching CRT and painting “rainbow bullets” on Marine helmets in recruiting ads. I’m sure the Chinese are rolling on the ground laughing.

    All the Democrats and “Elites” who constantly scream to us about “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” bow to the least diverse nation on earth who, incidentally, follows no international environmental regulations (building coal fired electric plants as fast as they can) and is practicing genocide against their population of 12 million Uyghurs. Our biggest corporations (i.e. Disney, Nike, the NBA, all film producers) and “woke” athletes and Hollywood also bow to the Chinese and are required (by the Chinese) to say nothing negative about them or their policies. Why? Follow the money. They all salivate about selling their products and getting rich off of the potential sales in a country of 1.5 Billion people instead of the comparatively small market in the U.S. of just 330 million. Never mind that if things continue on this trend, their grandchildren will probably end up speaking Mandarin……

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