China’s Xi sends top security aide to Switzerland for high-stakes Trump trade talks

President Xi Jinping is sending Wang Xiaohong, his public security boss, to Switzerland this weekend to sit across the table from president Donald Trump’s trade team. 

The meeting is about fentanyl, and how far Beijing is ready to go to stay in the game. This is part of high-level trade talks between China and the United States, with Wang joining Vice Premier He Lifeng for back-to-back meetings with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

The face-off is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Geneva. And no, this isn’t some quiet protocol exchange. Xi made the decision to bring in his top cop after Trump tied part of his harsh trade tariffs directly to China’s link to fentanyl trafficking.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Xi personally chose Wang to be the go-between on all narcotics issues with Washington.

Wang leads China’s push to get fentanyl off the table

Wang, who runs the Ministry of Public Security and is high up in the State Council, landed the role because of how tight he is with Xi. He’s there to deal with the White House’s new pressure on China to shut down chemical exports tied to fentanyl production.

Trump wants hard rules, tough enforcement, and actual results. But the Chinese side keeps throwing the same argument: as long as tariffs stay brutal, they won’t go out of their way to help.

That message hasn’t changed much over the years. When Trump hit Beijing with 145% tariffs on goods after his re-election, China fired back with 125% tariffs on American products. But things might shift. On Truth Social, Trump hinted that he’d be open to reducing the tariffs to 80%, writing, “80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.” That would still be harsh, but it’s a signal. He’s giving them a door to walk through—if they bring something to the table.

That something is fentanyl. Over 20% of the trade penalties were built around Trump’s claim that China wasn’t doing enough to stop the drug crisis that’s killing tens of thousands of Americans every year.

Back when the tariffs were first dropped, Beijing didn’t even want to talk about it. They said the US was using fentanyl as a front to attack them economically. Now, things are different. With financial pressure rising at home, Xi is using the drug issue to get talks moving again.

Beijing expected to answer Trump’s fentanyl crackdown demands

Yun Sun, a China analyst at the Stimson Center in Washington, said the presence of Wang proves that “fentanyl is not only on the table, but also a key piece in the US-China trade talks at this stage.” She added, “How willing China is to cooperate will illustrate how eager they are to make the trade deal.”

The White House already gave Beijing a list of exact demands on how they want China to deal with the flow of chemicals used in fentanyl production. The list includes new enforcement rules and stronger public warnings against criminal groups involved in the trade.

Officials familiar with the meetings allegedly told the Journal that Wang will speak directly to those demands in Geneva. And it’s not just Wang and He on the trip. This is Xi’s entire power structure coming together—economics and policing—in one delegation.

He Lifeng, who controls the country’s financial planning and access, is also the closest economic voice to Xi. That pairing tells you everything about how seriously China is taking these talks.

Meanwhile, the US also met with Switzerland during the weekend to talk about a separate trade deal. But Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter said she didn’t know if fentanyl came up in China’s talks with her country. That issue clearly belongs to the US-China corner of the discussions.

Every sign points to Beijing treating fentanyl as their way out of a trade squeeze. They don’t want to admit fault, but they know the only way to reduce tariffs is by throwing Trump something he wants. Whether or not that works will depend on what Wang and He bring to Geneva—and whether Trump’s team sees it as enough.

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