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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:48:10 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden to meet with Xi in San Francisco, first in-person meeting in a yearJoe Biden is set to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping today in San Francisco – the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders in a year. The summit, which marks Xi’s first visit to the US in six years, has been widely regarded by US and Chinese officials as an opportunity for the two leaders to ease tensions amid a precarious geopolitical climate involving the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars. Over the years, tensions surrounding trade, human rights and the future of Taiwan has deteriorated US-China relations. Following the then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last year, which triggered outrage from China, military dialogues between the two countries have been largely suspended. In addition to issues surrounding trade, human rights and Taiwan, the two leaders are also widely expected to discuss climate agreements. In a statement released alongside China on Tuesday, the state department said that the US and China “reaffirm their commitment to work jointly and together with other countries to address the climate crisis”. Another major potential talking point between the two leaders is the control of the fentanyl pipeline from China to the US which has resulted in an opioid overdose epidemic across the US.
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:49:21 GMT -5
(The Guardian) China and US pledge to fight climate crisis ahead of summitWith the US and China pledging on Tuesday to cooperate more closely to fight climate change, both countries said that they would commit to “economy-wide” nationally determined contributions across all greenhouse gases, not just CO2. The Guardian’s Amy Hawkins reports: One of the most notable features in the climate statement was that both countries would commit to “economy-wide” nationally determined contributions (NDCs) across all greenhouse gases, not just CO2. China has previously resisted the idea of specifying which parts of the economy would be covered by its climate pledges.
Li Shuo, the incoming director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Policy Institute, said the language of “economy-wide” NDCs “implies a pretty stringent framework” that “will help enhance the transparency of China’s emissions”, a goal that the US has long pushed for.
The US and Chinese climate envoys, John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua, had met this month at the Sunnylands resort in California in an attempt to restart stalled cooperation. Experts agree that keeping the Paris goals in reach will require an enormous collective effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions this decade.
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:50:38 GMT -5
Joe Biden with Gavin Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Xi Jinping arrives in San Francisco. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:51:18 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:52:05 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:54:13 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden and Xi to announce fentanyl crackdown dealJoe Biden and Xi Jinping are set to announce a deal to crack down on fentanyl export as the US grapples with a worsening opioid overdose epidemic. The Guardian’s Gloria Oladipo reports: Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are set to announce an agreement for China to crack down on the manufacture and export of fentanyl, the primary culprit in a synthetic drug epidemic blamed as the leading killer of Americans between 18 and 49.
Bloomberg reported that under the deal – which the US and Chinese presidents are still finalizing – China would go after chemical companies to halt the flow of fentanyl and the source material used to make it. In return, Biden’s White House would lift restrictions on China’s forensic police institute. China had long questioned why the US would expect cooperation in the battle against fentanyl when the US government had placed restrictions on the institute.
Last year the US reported 110,000 overdose deaths from synthetic drugs, with more than two-thirds linked to fentanyl, a potent opioid. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and is increasingly mixed with other illicit drugs, often with lethal results. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has said that fentanyl largely comes to the US from China, through drug cartels in Mexico.
Authorities say fentanyl can be created and distributed more easily than plant-based illicit drugs, which required large-scale enterprises to cultivate and market.
The fentanyl announcement is scheduled for Wednesday when the two leaders are set to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in San Francisco. The White House did not respond to request for comment on the deal.
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:55:16 GMT -5
San Francisco’s Market Street lit up with laser light show for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) global trade summit which takes place through 17 November in San Francisco, California. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu/Getty Images Protesters hold banners during a rally in opposition to Apec on 15 November. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:56:35 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Despite the US and China’s joint climate plan being welcomed by experts, the plan lacks specific emission reductions or a commitment to phase out fossil fuels. The Guardian’s Oliver Milman reports: The US and China’s decision to rekindle a joint effort to tackle the climate crisis has provided sorely needed momentum ahead of crucial UN climate talks later this month, while still leaving some key questions unresolved around calling an end to the fossil fuel era.
The difficult relationship between the world’s two largest carbon emitters has somewhat thawed over the issue of global heating, with both sides indicating they see it as a shared menace set aside from other tensions around trade or the status of Taiwan. The US and China are “alarmed” by the state of “one of the greatest challenges of our time” and will work to resolve it despite other differences, as the countries’ joint statement on Tuesday put it.
The breakthrough has been welcomed by climate experts who point out that little can be done to stem the unfolding climate crisis without strong action from both China and the US, which together are responsible for nearly 40% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Climate talks have been on hold for more than a year but are set to be on the agenda, among more contentious issues, as Joe Biden meets his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jingping, in California on Wednesday.
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 17:57:35 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 18:01:02 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Ahead of the meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping today in San Francisco, the European Council on Foreign Relations has released the following results from a new global opinion poll conducted in 21 countries: -- There is widespread pessimism among citizens of the west. 47% of respondents in the United States are pessimistic about the future of their country. -- In contrast, in emerging and rising powers (including China) optimism prevails. Sixty-nine per cent of Chinese respondents are optimistic about their country, and this feeling was also evidenced among 86% of those surveyed in India, 74% in Indonesia and 54% in Russia. -- Chinese strength, globally, is most evidenced on economic matters. When asked if they feel closer to the US or China on trade, majorities in Russia (74%), Saudi Arabia (60%), South Africa (60%), Indonesia (53%) and Turkey (50%) selected China. Majorities in Saudi Arabia (64%), South Africa (58%), Brazil (52%), and Turkey (52%) also expressed acceptance for five types of Chinese economic presence in their countries, including ownership of sports teams, newspapers, tech companies and infrastructure. -- US leadership on the global stage is still important. If forced to choose, respondents almost everywhere in ECFR’s survey stated that they would prefer to be part of an American bloc rather than cooperating with China and its partners. This was the majority view in South Korea (82%), India (80%), Brazil (66%), South Africa (54%), Turkey (51%) and Saudi Arabia (50%).
Protesters tried to block people from entering the Apec summit in downtown San Francisco on Wednesday morning, with demonstrators heckling participants and blocking traffic near the gathering. The protest was organized by the No to Apec Coalition, which is made up of more than a hundred grassroot groups and says it “opposes Apec as a forum for corporations and institutions to push so-called ‘free trade’ to exploit their workers and put the benefits of corporations over the rights of nations and peoples.” Demonstrators numbered in the hundreds, CBS Bay Area reported. “Biden, Biden telling lies, you don’t care if the planet dies," some demonstrators chanted, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The San Francisco city blocks where the summit is being held have seen multiple protests ahead of the meeting. On Tuesday, thousands gathered in the same area to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, denounce Israel’s invasion, and deplore the rising death toll. And on Sunday, thousands of demonstrators protesting various causes, including corporate profits, environmental abuses, poor working conditions and the Israel-Hamas war, joined forces in a march.
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 18:06:32 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 18:07:58 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are expected to meet shortly.
Xi Jinping has arrived ahead of his bilateral meeting with Joe Biden. He stepped out of his car and shook hands briefly with Biden before posing for photos.
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping have made their way into the meeting hall. They were greeted by officials including the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, the US special climate envoy, John Kerry, as well as the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 18:09:26 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden highlights 'candid, straightforward and useful' US-China meetings“There’s no substitute to face-to-face discussions,” Joe Biden told Xi Jinping. “Mr. President, we have known each other for a long time. We haven’t always agreed … but our meetings have always been candid, straightforward and useful,” Biden said. “We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. And we also have to manage it responsibly … and work together when we see it in our interest to do so,” he continued. He went on to mention “critical global challenges” including climate change. narcotics and artificial intelligence that the US seeks to address with China. Xi: 'Planet Earth is big enough' for both US and China to succeed“The China-US relationship, which is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, should be perceived and envisioned in a broad context of the accelerating global transformations,” Xi Jinping told Joe Biden. “China-US relationship has never been smooth sailing over the past 50 years or more and it always faces problems of one kind or another. Yet it has kept moving forward amid twists and turns. “For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option … “Planet earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed and one country’s success is an opportunity for the other,” Xi added.
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 18:10:34 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Joe Biden and Xi Jinping sit down for first face-to-face meeting in a yearJoe Biden has welcomed Xi Jinping to San Francisco where the two leaders are meeting face-to-face for the first time in a year. As Xi stepped out of his bulletproof Hongqi sedan, Biden greeted the smiling Chinese president with a handshake and said: “Welcome.” The two then proceeded to pose briefly for photos before heading into their meeting hall where they were greeted by US officials including the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, the US’s special climate envoy, John Kerry, and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. Addressing Xi, Biden said: Mr President, we’ve known each other for a long time. We haven’t always agreed which [does] not surprise anyone but our meetings have always been candid, straightforward and useful … I value our conversation because I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader with no misconceptions or miscommunication …
We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. And we also have to manage it responsibly … That’s what the United States wants and what we intend to do … I also believe it’s what the world wants for both of us … We also have the responsibility to our people and the world to work together when we see it in our interest to do so. Critical global challenges we face from climate change to counter narcotics to artificial intelligence demand our joint efforts.”Addressing Biden, Xi said: The China-US relationship, which is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, should be perceived and envisioned in a broad context of the accelerating global transformations … It should develop in a way that benefits our two peoples and fulfils our responsibility for human progress.
The China-US relationship has never been smooth sailing over the past 50 years or more and it always faces problems of one kind or another. Yet it has kept moving forward amid twists and turns. For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option …
Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed … As long as [China and the US] respect each other, coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation, they will be fully capable of rising above differences and find the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other.”
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Post by Webster on Nov 15, 2023 18:11:36 GMT -5
President Joe Biden Meets with China's President President Xi Jinping at the Filoli Estate in Woodside, Calif., Wednesday, Nov, 15, 2023, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference. Photograph: Doug Mills/AP U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Woodside, California, U.S., November 15, 2023. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
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