San Francisco’s SOS to Xi Jinping: Can China Help Curb the Fentanyl Tide?

509 deaths from fentanyl were reported by September this year
The United States is set to initiate negotiations with China, the primary source of precursor supplies

San Francisco, once the hub of Silicon Valley, is grappling with the epidemic of the ‘zombie drug’ fentanyl. Amidst this, the city works tirelessly to improve its image as it hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

The APEC summit is currently underway in San Francisco, California, USA, as of November 11th (local time). The summit, which runs until the 17th, is a crucial event that could serve as a springboard for the revival of San Francisco, which has been struggling with severe drug and crime issues post-COVID, leading to a mass exodus of businesses.

Particularly, San Francisco is making various efforts, such as cleaning the streets and relocating people without housing to successfully host the APEC summit and escape the so-called ‘Doom Loop.’

San Francisco: from the heart of Silicon Valley to a city of crime

San Francisco, once celebrated as a cradle of progress and diversity, has now degraded into a crime-ridden city teeming with drug addicts and robbers. The biggest problem is ‘drugs.’ San Francisco is currently grappling with a significant issue of drug overdoses, particularly fentanyl.

Specifically, as of September this year, the number of deaths from drug overdoses in San Francisco alone has reached 620, approaching last year’s total of 649 deaths. Of these, 506 deaths, accounting for 80% of the total, were caused by fentanyl. The city has even been tagged as a ‘zombie city’ due to the sight of fentanyl addicts wandering the streets like zombies.

On the 13th (local time), London Breed, the Mayor of San Francisco, responded to a question in a Bloomberg TV interview about what she would request if she had a chance to talk to the state president during the APEC period, “I would ask for cooperation to block resources (fentanyl) from China from entering the US or Mexico as much as possible.”

Mayor Breed stated, “I hope we can continue to maintain the good relationship that has always existed between China and the US,” and expressed concern, “Fentanyl is currently very lethal to Americans, and it is negatively affecting the relationship between the two countries.”

Fentanyl is being illegally smuggled into the US via Mexico, and China is reported by US authorities to be the primary supplier of the raw materials.

Not only Mayor Breed but also US authorities are expected to discuss the issue of blocking the illegal influx of fentanyl with China during the APEC summit.

There are also predictions of a potential agreement between the two countries regarding fentanyl.

Meanwhile, President Xi Jinping is scheduled to have a summit with US President Joe Biden on the 15th during his visit.

By. Bang Je Il