Trump/Biden/Kissinger and Xi on China

[Randy W]

Biden administration announces sweeping legal actions against Chinese fentanyl chemical producers

from Fortune

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland holds a press conference to announce disruptions of the fentanyl precursor chemical supply chain at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 3, 2023.
STEFANI REYNOLDS—AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

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The Biden administration took aim Tuesday at the fentanyl trafficking threat, announcing a series of indictments and sanctions against Chinese companies and executives blamed for importing the chemicals used to make the deadly drug.

Officials described the actions, which include charges against eight Chinese companies accused of advertising, manufacturing and distributing precursor chemicals for synthetic opioids like fentanyl, as the latest effort in their fight against the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history. The moves come one day before senior administration officials are set to visit Mexico, whose cartels are part of the global trafficking network, for meetings expected to involve discussion of the drug threat.

“We know that this network includes the cartels’ leaders, their drug traffickers, their money launderers, their clandestine lab operators, their security forces, their weapons suppliers, and their chemical suppliers,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference. “And we know that this global fentanyl supply chain, which ends with the deaths of Americans, often starts with chemical companies in China.”

Besides charging eight companies, the Justice Department also indicted 12 executives for their alleged roles in drug trafficking. In a coordinated action, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against 28 people and companies — mostly in China but also in Canada — that will cut them off from the U.S. financial system and prohibit anyone in the U.S. from doing business with them. None of those charged has been arrested, but Garland said prosecutors intended to “bring every one of these defendants to justice.”

 . . .

Mexico and China are the primary sources for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl come from China. And the companies that make the precursors routinely use fake return addresses and mislabel the products in order to avoid being caught by law enforcement.

One of the examples cited by the Justice Department involves a Chinese pharmaceutical technology company that advertised xylazine, a horse tranquilizer that is often mixed to fentanyl to ensure a more potent high, and shipped the chemicals to the U.S. and to Mexico. One of the purchasers in Mexico, officials said, was a drug trafficker associated with the Sinaloa Cartel.

 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Biden says a meeting with Xi on sidelines of November APEC summit in San Francisco is a possibility

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves during the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

from the APNews

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Beijing has stayed on the sidelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But the White House has publicized a U.S. intelligence assessment indicating that Beijing has weighed assisting Moscow with weaponry.

Despite the differences, there have been stepped-up efforts in recent months by the two sides to manage the relationship.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, declined to comment on the status of a possible Biden-Xi meeting in San Francisco, but noted in a statement that the two countries “are in communication on bilateral engagement and exchange.”

“China and the U.S. need to work in the same direction, clear obstacles and manage differences with concrete actions, and enhance dialogue and expand cooperation in good faith,” he added.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

Sen. Schumer discusses trade, fentanyl crisis with China on 1st day of congressional visit to Asia

from PBS NewsHour

 

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and five other senators arrived in Shanghai earlier in the day on a three-country tour that will also take them to South Korea and Japa

 . . .

“We are prepared to compete but we do not seek to conflict,” Schumer told Shanghai’s Communist Party chief shortly after the delegation’s arrival.

The party head, Chen Jining, avoided specific issues in his public remarks, saying that a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship would benefit the entire world. He noted the presence of 5,640 American companies in Shanghai, and said he is happy to have the opportunity to discuss how to promote trade at the local level.

 . . .

Schumer said the U.S. wants the Chinese people to have increased economic opportunity but that many Americans feel China does not treat U.S. companies fairly.

“We believe we need reciprocity allowing American companies to compete as freely in China as Chinese companies are able to compete here,” he said.

 . . .

The delegation of three Democrats and three Republicans landed on a U.S. government jet on an overcast and windy afternoon. The Republicans were led by Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, the senior member of his party on the Senate Finance Committee. Schumer is a New York Democrat.

 

 

[Randy W]

Top diplomat Wang Yi hopes US, China can 'rationally' manage differences

from Channel News Asia

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Centre) and US Senate Mike Crapo (Left) meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (Right) at the Diaoyutai Guest House in Beijing. (Photo: AFP/Pool/Andy Wong)

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He also said he hoped they would "more accurately understand China" after the trip.

Schumer, in turn, thanked the Chinese delegation for their hospitality, noting there were several issues of "great concern" he was seeking to raise during his visit.

He said "a level playing field for American business and workers" was his delegation's "number one goal".

"Holding accountable China-based companies supplying deadly chemicals fuelling the fentanyl crisis in America" was another objective, he told Wang, as was "ensuring China does not support Russia's immoral war against Ukraine".

"Advancing human rights" was an additional priority, Schumer said.

But he also said he was "very disappointed" by a Sunday statement from Beijing's foreign ministry on the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

 

 

[Randy W]

Putin expected in Beijing, more dependent than ever on China

China's President Xi Jinping (L) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin are seen before talks at the Moscow Kremlin on March 21, 2023. Alexei Maishev/POOL/TASS

from the Moscow Times

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But all eyes will be on Putin, who last month told Beijing's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in St. Petersburg he had "gladly accepted" Xi's invitation to visit China for the BRI talking shop.

The Russian leader's strategic dependence on China has only grown since his invasion of neighboring Ukraine thrust his country into international isolation.

Putin has hardly ventured beyond his country's borders since the war, with next week's trip the first to a major global power.

This year, trade between the two powers has soared to levels not seen since the beginning of Moscow's war in Ukraine, with Chinese imports of Russian oil offering Moscow a critical lifeline as international sanctions bite.

Bilateral trade reached a record $190 billion last year, according to Chinese customs data, and the two sides have pledged to reach $200 billion this year.

China has refused to condemn the war in an effort to position itself as a neutral party, while at the same time offering Moscow a vital diplomatic and financial lifeline.

 . . .

In May, the Chinese leader told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that Beijing and Moscow would continue to offer each other "firm support on issues concerning each other's core interests."

After he lands in Beijing next week, Putin will be looking to match those lofty words with hard cash and firmer support for his war in Ukraine, experts said.

"Moscow will try to further deepen cooperation with Beijing and elicit more support from China, including lethal military aid, as it has hopes that Western support for Ukraine may be gradually faltering," Bjorn Alexander Duben, an assistant professor at China's Jilin University, said.

 

 

[Randy W]

China's top diplomat Wang Yi starts US visit as Biden stands firm

from Channel News Asia

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will begin his visit to Washington by meeting Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who travelled to Beijing in June. (Photo: AFP/Wang Zhao)

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US officials have repeatedly spoken of creating "guardrails" to prevent worst-case scenarios and have sought, without success, to restore contact between the two militaries, even as the powers disagree strongly on issues from trade to Taiwan.

"We're going to compete with China (in) every way according to the international rules - economically, politically, in other ways. But I'm not looking for conflict," Biden said Wednesday as he welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Biden also issued a warning after the Philippines, a treaty-bound ally and former colony of the United States, said Chinese vessels deliberately hit Manila's boats in dispute-rife waters - an account disputed by Beijing.

"Any attack on Filipino aircraft, vessels or armed forces will invoke our mutual defence treaty with the Philippines," Biden said.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

Developing | Li Keqiang: in China and overseas, tributes flow for warm, capable former premier

• Foreign diplomats, business leaders and China watchers around the world joined the Chinese public in remembering Li who died on Friday
• Many who had first-hand experience of the former premier shared photos of him on Weibo, including his visits to disaster sites

from the SCMP

China’s former premier Li Keqiang, who died early on Friday, is remembered by Chinese and foreign diplomats, business leaders and China watchers as curious, committed and capable. Photo: Reuters

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Li was pronounced dead early on Friday shortly after midnight after suffering a heart attack. The news was broken by the state broadcaster CGTN. Further details about his death have not been made public.

The former premier, who was born in Anhui province, was visiting Shanghai. At 68, Li was healthy and energetic, and there had been no reports of him suffering any chronic illness.

 . . .

In a message to the South China Morning Post, Tao said Li would be remembered for his role as the first premier in China’s history with a bachelor of laws and the first with a doctorate in economics.

“Without the reform and opening up and resumption of the college entrance examination system, he might have been farming in the countryside of Anhui province like me, and the door of Peking University would not have been opened for us,” Tao said.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

During his 10-year tenure, Li consistently pushed for a stronger private economy, foreign investment and simplified government procedures.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/257397060222288/

 

[Randy W]

Why a group of ‘everyday people’ in Iowa have been invited to dinner by Chinese president Xi Jinping: ‘We’re eager to meet with him’
Xi’s warm feelings toward the Midwesterners contrasts with the recent acrimony between the two largest economies.

from Fortune

Chinese President Xi Jinping has a soft spot for Iowa. Li Xueren—Xinhua/Getty Images
 

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A group of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “old friends” from Iowa have been invited to a dinner he will attend in California next week — 38 years after they welcomed the then-unknown party official for a hog roast, farm tours and a Mississippi River boat ride as they showed him how capitalists do agriculture.

“This has been a heck of a journey — we can’t figure it out. We don’t even know why he likes us!” said Sarah Lande, an 85-year-old Muscatine resident who has maintained connections with Xi since he made his first visit to the US as the leader of a food processing delegation from China’s Hebei Province in 1985.

“But we’re eager to meet with him, too. We’re regular, everyday people,” Lande added.

Xi’s warm and enduring bond with the Midwesterners he first encountered nearly four decades ago stands in contrast with the suspicions and acrimony that have characterized relations between the two largest economies over the last few years.

 . . .

In 1985, Gary Dvorchak’s parents gave Xi his bedroom, decorated with Star Trek items, in their Muscatine home. Dvorchak and his sister Paula, who talked to the future Chinese leader about American movies, are on next week’s guest list.

 

 

[Randy W]

Xi Jinping, Joe Biden hold talks on sidelines of Apec summit to ease strained US-China ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Apec summit in San Francisco. It was the first time in a year that Xi and Biden met in person.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/1600764224065566/

 

[Randy W]

Just lay off Taiwan, okay?

China doesn’t want a cold war or a hot war with anyone, says Xi

After a meeting with Biden, President Xi Jinping said China was ready to be a partner and friend of the US and 'will not fight a cold war or a hot war' with any nation.

from Al Jazeera English on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera/videos/662448039359222/

[Randy W]

Chinese media send unified message highlighting leader’s ‘warm welcome’ in US in Xi-Biden summit coverage

• Reports play up personal interactions between President Xi Jinping and American counterpart Joe Biden, as well as remarks on Taiwan and bilateral ties
• State news outlets underscore Beijing’s efforts to improve strained US-China relations but ignore protests near Apec summit in San Francisco

from the SCMP

Xi Jinping poses in front of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in 1985, when he was Communist Party chief of Zhengding county in northern China’s Hebei province. Photo: Xinhua
 

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Greeted by Newsom and other representatives, Xi recalled his previous trip to San Francisco 38 years ago, when he was party chief of Zhengding county in the northern province of Hebei.

Biden later played up that personal detail. After a four-hour talk with the Chinese leader and his delegation, a beaming Biden held up his phone to display a photo of Xi in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

“Do you know this man?” Biden reportedly asked Xi, according to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, who shared the interaction on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“Oh yes,” Xi responded with a smile. “This was 38 years ago.”

The episode was widely picked up by Chinese media, as was the leaders’ stroll around the Filoli estate, a country house with well-manicured gardens about 48km (30 miles) south of San Francisco.
Chinese media also highlighted their warm farewell, when Xi opened the door of a Hongqi limousine and Biden admired the Chinese-made luxury vehicle, comparing it to his own presidential Cadillac.

 . . .

Chinese news outlets only carried state media reports on the Xi-Biden talks, unifying their message to the Chinese public that Beijing was working to improve strained bilateral ties.

Mainland Chinese media did not cover the protests over human rights issues that have erupted in San Francisco ahead of this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) conference. They did report that overseas Chinese waved China’s flag and chanted its national anthem in the streets as they welcomed Xi to the American city.

State media also highlighted Xi’s remarks to Biden on bilateral relations, China’s modernisation and Taiwan, as well as his criticism of Washington’s containment measures. The Chinese leader’s comments were widely carried in Chinese media and social media.

 

 

 

Biden, Xi's 'blunt' talks yield deals on military, fentanyl

from Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden walks 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. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
 

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U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on Wednesday to open a presidential hotline, resume military-to-military communications and work to curb fentanyl production, showing tangible progress in their first face-to-face talks in a year.

n a significant breakthrough, the two governments plan to resume military contacts that China severed after then-House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.

“We’re back to direct, open clear direct communication on a direct basis,” Biden said.

In addition, Biden said he and Xi agreed to high-level communications. "He and I agreed that each one of us can pick up the phone call directly and we'll be heard immediately."

But in a comment likely to irk the Chinese, Biden told reporters later that he had not changed his view that Xi is a dictator.

"Well, look, he is. I mean, he’s a dictator in the sense that he is a guy who runs a country that is a communist country," Biden said.

Xi told Biden that the negative views of the Communist Party in the United States were unfair, a U.S. official told reporters after the meeting.

 . . .

The White House said Biden raised areas where Washington has concerns, including detained U.S. citizens, human rights in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong and Beijing’s aggressive activities in the South China Sea.

 . . .

A U.S. official described an exchange over Taiwan, the democratic island that China claims as its territory. China's preference is for peaceful reunification with the Chinese-claimed island of Taiwan, Xi told Biden, the U.S. official said, but Xi went on to talk about conditions in which force could be used.

Biden said he stressed the need for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. official said Biden argued to maintain the status quo and for China to respect Taiwan's electoral process.

"President Xi responded 'Look, peace is all well and good, but at some point we need to move towards resolution more generally'," the official quoted Xi as saying.

Xi also urged the United States to stop sending weapons to Taiwan and support China's peaceful "reunification" with Taiwan, Chinese state media said.

Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan expert at the Germen Marshall Fund of the United States, said Xi seemed to have conveyed both threats and assurances on Taiwan.

"The suggestion that a resolution needs to be found in the near term is a worrisome sign, even if he emphasized that there are no plans for military action against Taiwan in the coming years," she said.

 

 

[Randy W]

 

IN A MINUTE: Xi and Biden compare presidential cars #shorts

[Randy W]

A behind-the-scenes assessment from Lei's Real Talk - "What would the Chinese leader say in San Francisco if he could speak his mind?" is an AI generated simulation of Xi making a speech in English. The "speech" was originally written and posted in Chinese as a fantasy by a Chinese blogger of what "Xi would really want to say". She calls it "Lei's Saturday Night Live parody" of a Xi Jinping speech.

What did Xi really want to say in San Francisco?

The APEC 2023 is over. The Biden-Xi meeting didn’t produce any newsworthy headlines, but Xi’s visit was eventful. The CCP went out of its way to hire Xi’s welcomers. Xi was met with large protests. What did Elon Musk say at Xi’s dinner party? What’s Blackstone’s plan in China? Most of all, was Xi Jinping upset with Biden calling him a dictator? What would the Chinese leader say in San Francisco if he could speak his mind?  Watch Lei's Saturday Night Lives parody.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

China on Kissinger

from the SCMP

Henry Kissinger: China pays highest tribute as President Xi Jinping sends condolences on passing of ‘old friend’

• President Xi Jinping sends message to US counterpart Joe Biden, says ‘Kissinger’s name will forever be associated with China-US relations’
• Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also convey condolences, while analysts praise Kissinger’s role in bringing China and US together

Robert Daly, pictured interpreting for Henry Kissinger and Jiang Zemin in 1997, said Kissinger was “one of the last giants”. Photo: Supplied by Robert Daly

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President Xi Jinping has conveyed his condolences on the passing of former US top diplomat Henry Kissinger, marking the highest level of tribute from China for its “old friend”.

Kissinger, who was secretary of state during the height of the Cold War and played a pivotal role in shaping China-US relations, died on Wednesday at his home in Connecticut. He was 100.

In a message to US President Joe Biden, Xi expressed deep sorrow over Kissinger’s death and sincere condolences to his family on behalf of the Chinese government and people, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported.