"China Sends Xi’s Security Czar to Trade Talks With U.S."

It appears the Chinese delegation will be in Geneva to do more than just negotiate the dimensions of the table for the next meeting.*

From the Wall Street Journal, May 9:

The dispatch of Wang Xiaohong to Switzerland signals the importance of fentanyl issue in the relationship 

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is sending his top public-security aide to Switzerland as part of Beijing’s trade talks with Washington, according to people familiar with the matter, signaling the importance of the fentanyl issue to bilateral relations.

Wang Xiaohong, who is the minister of public security and a senior leader within the State Council, China’s cabinet, will be part of the Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, a trusted aide to Xi and a gatekeeper to the world’s second-largest economy. They will meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Switzerland on Saturday and Sunday for high-stakes talks that could help determine whether both sides can walk back from the brink of sky-high tariffs.

Xi has designated Wang, a close lieutenant, as the point person in Beijing’s recent discussions with Washington over how to address President Trump’s concerns about China’s role in the fentanyl trade, The Wall Street Journal has reported, helping pave the way for the weekend trade talks.

The Trump administration has pushed Beijing to help fix America’s drug crisis with more drastic measures to cut off the production and export of chemicals used to make fentanyl, but distrust between the U.S. and China had plagued such efforts. Chinese officials framed their willingness to cooperate on counternarcotics as a matter of goodwill, saying U.S. tariffs make them less likely to help solve the fentanyl problem. 

In recent weeks, as economic pressure has mounted in China, Beijing has tried to re-engage on the fentanyl issue to offer an off-ramp from the tariff hostilities and allow both sides to start trade negotiations.

“Wang’s presence means one thing: Fentanyl is not only on the table, but also a key piece in the U.S.-China trade talks at this stage,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank. “How willing China is to cooperate will illustrate how eager they are to make the trade deal.”....

....MUCH MORE

*The introduction is in reference to the Paris Peace Talks which were convened with the intention of ending the war in Vietnam. From the U.S. Department of State via the Internet Archive:

Summary

Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, Volume VII
Vietnam, September 1968-January 1969 

....The official talks still did not begin. South Vietnam raised a series of procedural issues, the most prominent of which were the particular use of flags and name plates, the speaking order of the participants, and the physical arrangement of the conference, including most notably the shape of the conference table. 

On the latter issue, the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (NLF) insisted on a four-sided table to emphasize equality between the parties, while the United States and especially the GVN favored a two-sided arrangement that did not obviously give the NLF equal footing with the GVN. (250, 260, 264) On January 2, 1969, the North Vietnamese relented on their requirement that made flags and nameplates contingent upon the acceptance by the other side of a continuous round table. (268, 269) 

On January 7 Johnson sent Thieu a strongly worded message to desist from the "continued stalemate on present lines" that was undermining public support within the United States for South Vietnam. (276) Thieu continued to refuse to consider such a trade-off from his original position on the shape of the table. (277-279) 

Pressure on Thieu from Washington coupled with the involvement of Soviet diplomats eventually overcame this impasse. On January 13 the Soviet Ambassador in Paris directed his subordinate to propose a resolution: a round table with two smaller rectangular tables at opposite sides; no flags or nameplates; and speaking order arranged by the drawing of lots. (280, 281) 

Both the North Vietnamese and the American delegations agreed to this proposal on January 15, as did both South Vietnam and the NLF the next day. (283, 284) On January 18 the first meeting between the four parties, which focused solely on modalities for the substantive talks, was held. (286) The Johnson administration left office on January 20, 1969, with the knowledge that peace talks were finally underway....