At meetings during Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) climate-themed trip to China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will challenge China’s senior diplomat about human rights abuses.
During the fireside discussion held at Hong Kong University in Hong Kong, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom spoke onstage alongside Hong Kong University Professor Peng Gong. (Source: Washington Examiner)
Climate Change Policy Talks of Gov. Newsom
“Talking about issues where we see potential cooperation or coordination does not mean we don’t raise difficult issues,” a senior administration official said Monday. Diplomacy involves discussing difficult and operational topics. As the prominent California governor began a week of climate change policy talks in China, President Joe Biden’s staff issued that forecast. His apparent goal to skirt human rights concerns drew congressional criticism, but Biden’s aides said his meetings might build on past climate change policy discussions with Xi Jinping.
State-to-provincial engagement is crucial for diplomacy “We hope Gov. Newsom’s visit will advance some of those conversations,” the senior administration official said. A Senate Democrat who co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China warned a Newsom staffer that “the trip is wholly focused on climate”. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) told Politico, “It does great damage because it looks like the Chinese repression is accepted, and we cannot allow that to be the case.
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Gov. Newsom Goes to China for a Week
Merkley urged Newsom to “speak very clearly against the repression of the Hong Kong people.” Newsom said, “I wish I was president of the United States” after stopping in Israel on Friday en route to Hong Kong, praising the government’s climate change policies. “You guys inspired us,” he told SCMP. “Hong Kong is remarkable. Leadership is evident in many ways.” Hong Kong political reporter Alvin Lum reported that Newsom met a Chinese Foreign Ministry official “whose last posting was in Xinjiang” at Hong Kong University during a “fireside chat”. The Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang are the focus of Chinese Communist repressions that the US has called a genocide.
He stated, “We must radically change the way we produce and consume energy, and it won’t be enough if we act alone.” This visit allows us to exchange successes, learn from each other, and advance ambitious climate change policies. After his initial remarks at Hong Kong University, Newsom avoided the problems during the Q&A Bloomberg reported that Newsom said, “We can do many different things at once, but the issue of climate change is why I’m here and I’m going to aggressively pursue that agenda.”
Before he left last week, his team anticipated such an approach. “The trip is pretty wholly focused on climate, and we are a state, so I think we look to our federal partners on federal issues,” Newsom spokeswoman Erin Mellon said last week. Newsom will spend six days in China, while Blinken will host the communist regime’s top ambassador in Washington from Thursday to Saturday. On Monday, another senior administration official emphasized that Secretary Blinken will safeguard our ideals, human rights, and religious freedom, as well as be frank about our concerns.
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