According to Reuters, Patel flew into Beijing on Friday and spoke with authorities on Saturday. The U.S.embassy in the Chinese capital and China's Foreign Ministry have not recognized the fly-in visit.
This comes after Patel was accused of using an FBI aircraft to fly to see his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, perform at a wrestling event at Pennsylvania State University. This incident brought attention to Patel's usage of FBI jets for private purposes.
When the incident was reported, the director became enraged because he saw it as an attack on his partner, whom he defended on social media and said was a “true patriot” and a “rock-solid conservative.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic narcotic used to treat pain that has been generally held responsible for deaths linked to the opioid epidemic in North America. President Donald Trump has threatened to take tough action against this drug. In 2024, 48,000 Americans overdosed on fentanyl-containing drug combinations, according to the CDC.
Earlier this year, the president imposed harsh tariffs on China for failing to prevent its corporations from supplying its chemical components, known as precursor chemicals, to gangs that trade in them, particularly the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico, and on Canada and Mexico for allegedly failing to do enough to stop cross-border smuggling of opioids into the United States.
According to Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, China has defended its efforts to address the issue over the years of intermittent cooperation with the United States, but claims that it does not see it as a priority because it has strict drug laws and no comparable crisis among its own population.
In 2019, the WHO added some of the ingredients required to make fentanyl to its list of prohibited substances and designated it as a restricted narcotic.
China's Commerce Ministry declared on Monday that it will be changing the list and adding a new export license requirement for anybody wishing to ship particular chemical components to the United States, Canada, and Mexico in response to Patel's alleged visit.
Xi received a 10 percent reduction in U.S. taxes on Chinese goods, from 57 percent to 47 percent, in exchange for his cooperation with the president's efforts to crush the drug's illicit market.
The two sides also decided that China will stop its most recent export restrictions on rare earths for a year and start buying American soybeans again.
How does this visit affect US China law enforcement cooperation?
FBI Director Kash Patel's secret visit to China marks a significant step toward strengthening US-China law enforcement cooperation, particularly in dividing the lawless fentanyl trade. Both sides have established working groups and held elderly- position meetings addressing medicine control, extradition of exiles, and technological exchanges.
While differences on issues like cybersecurity and immigration persist, China and the US show a "results- acquainted" approach in law enforcement dialogue, aiming to foster collective trust and achieve palpable issues.
Patel's conversations likely support this line, potentially enhancing functional collaboration, information sharing, and common efforts against the fentanyl extremity and other international crimes. This cooperation contributes to bolstering bilateral ties by fastening on practical, security- related enterprises where interests align.