Lee Heidhues 10.25.2023
Ambitious California Governor Gavin Newsom has come a long way from the Parking and Traffic Commission in San Francisco in 1996 as he swiftly moves up the political ladder.
Supervisor. Mayor. Lieutenant Governor. Governor.
Now global hopping politician as he seeks to burnish his credentials worldwide.
What’s next after his gubernatorial term expires in January 2027?
There’s a presidential election year in 2028? Perhaps, earlier if Joe Biden decides not to seek reelection next year.
Excerpted from The New York Times 10.25.2023
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Wednesday, as part of an ambitious weeklong mission to negotiate climate partnerships.
He also discussed the Chinese imprisonment of a California pastor, David Lin, and “a variety of human rights issues including Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan,” the summary said.
Mr. Newsom raised the human rights issues in a separate meeting with Chinese leaders before he sat down with Mr. Xi, according to the governor’s office.
Mr. Xi met with Mr. Newsom in the Great Hall of the People, a grand building on the west side of Tiananmen Square where the Chinese leader often receives dignitaries. In an official summary of the meeting published by Chinese state media, Mr. Xi was quoted as saying he hoped Mr. Newsom’s visit would help promote ties between their countries.
The two-term Democratic governor wants California to set an aggressive pace for the United States — and the world — to cut carbon emissions that are dangerously heating the planet. Mr. Newsom’s moves to tackle the climate crisis have elevated his national profile, just as he is widely believed to be preparing for a White House run in 2028.
Mr. Newsom stressed in his meetings that China and California needed to work together to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and address the climate crisis, according to a summary provided by his office.
The governor raised issues beyond climate, his office said. He pressed Chinese leaders to stop the flow of chemicals that are used to make the fentanyl that is sold on the street in California, where fatal overdoses of the drug have soared in recent years. He spoke with Chinese officials about ways to increase the number of Chinese visitors to California, the summary added; the number of direct flights between the state and China is now about 15 percent of the number that were operating before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Nicholas Burns, the American ambassador to China, joined in the day’s meetings, and said it was “a very positive and consequential day for the United States.”
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