(The Center Square) – California governor Gavin Newsom met with Chinese president Xi Jinping and signed a joint cooperative declaration on climate change. He claims to have discussed “climate action, economic development, cultural exchange, human rights concerns, and democracy” with “Xi Jinping and other high-level Chinese officials,” but later clarified in a press conference his talk with Jinping was limited to climate change and fentanyl. He brought up human rights issues with China’ foreign minister.
“Divorce is not an option. The only way we can solve the climate crisis is to continue our long-standing cooperation with China,” said Newsom in a public statement. “I made it clear to Chinese leaders that California will remain a stable, strong, and reliable partner, particularly on low-carbon, green growth.”
In a letter expressing concerns about Newsom’s China trip, California’s Republican congressional delegation demanding he speak to Xinping about the Chinese Communist Party’s “documented genocide of ethnic minorities” and the nation’s opioid crisis driven by “PRC [People’s Republic of China] sourced fentanyl precursors.”
This letter was signed by Congressmembers Young Kim, R–Laguna Hills, Kevin McCarthy, R–Bakersfield, Ken Calvert, R–Norco, Darrel Isssa, R–Temecula, Doug LaMalfa, R–Oroville, David Valadeo, R–Hanford, Mike Garcia, R–Santa Clarita, and Michelle Steel, R–Fountain Valley.
“The Chinese Communist Party is reveling in this propaganda win,” Kiley said on X. “Newsom refuses to bring up human rights abuses.”
The governor’s office emphasized the desire to “strengthen the $166 billion two-way trade relationship between California and China” and the need to “open lines of communication and commerce in key California industries, notably high-tech innovation and agriculture.”
China, meanwhile, is noted for its widespread use of illicit tactics for stealing American technological and agricultural innovations to advance domestic production.
Issa, the wealthiest member of Congress after a successful career in the electronics industry, also went on the offensive on X, saying, “Endorsing Beijing manufacturing – so much of which is stolen from American innovators – may advance partisan climate politics, but it won’t do anything to deliver real prosperity to Californians suffering under the failed policies of Sacramento and record inflation.”
Newsom’s trip to China follows a quick stop in Israel in which he visited survivors of the Hamas terror attack.
