Gavin Newsom met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. What did California get out of it?

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NEWSOM NAVIGATES TROUBLED WATERS IN MEETING WITH CHINESE PRESIDENT

via Maggie Angst...

Gov. Gavin Newsom met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing, a setting typically reserved for heads of state.

The discussion, according to the governor’s office, touched on climate change, human rights, fentanyl and the importance of strengthening US-China relations. It was the first time Xi met with the U.S. governor since former California Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017.

“California and China are two of the world’s largest economies,” Newsom wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the meeting. “The reality is, we cannot solve the climate crisis without working together. Despite our major differences, California is committed to stopping the greatest existential threat our planet has ever known.”

The meeting between the Democratic governor and the leader of the world’s second-largest economy came amid a tense, but potentially improving, relationship between the two countries. China’s top diplomat just announced plans to visit Washington ahead of a possible meeting between President Joe Biden and Xi at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference next month in San Francisco.

Newsom, who has no authority over international issues, has met with two top global leaders in the past week. Prior to arriving in China for a weeklong tour focused on climate issues, Newsom met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.

When reporter Elex Michaelson of Fox LA asked Newsom what the state of California was getting out of his international trip, the governor said “more tourism”, “more two-way trade” and “more economic development.”

STANFORD STUDY SHOWS CALIFORNIA FLIGHT IS NOT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

Republican talking points not withstanding, most Californians decamping for other states aren’t doing it for political reasons.

That’s one of the findings of a new study from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Two-thirds of residents who moved out reported that they were not doing so for political reasons, though a quarter of those who left did say that politics was either very or somewhat of an important reason for moving away.

“It seems to matter most to voters under age 45, Hispanics, Republicans, and those who moved into Arizona and Texas,” the report said.

So why are they moving? It has more to do with the cost of living and perceptions about crime not supported by data, the report says. California and Texas have similar crime rates, and Arizona frequently has a higher rate.

A majority (62%) of Arizona and Texas California ex-pats surveyed said that they believe the Golden State has more crime than their newly adopted home. On party lines, that includes 77% of Republicans, 64% of independents and 44% of Democrats.

“The perception about higher crime in California, however, does not correspond with the facts and needs to be addressed more aggressively by Golden State political and business leaders,” the report said.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Far-right Rep. Mike Johnson is anti-choice, anti-democracy, and opposes same-sex marriage. He’s an embarrassment to Mikes everywhere.”

- California Senate Majority Leader and incoming Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire, discussing the election of Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, as the next Speaker of the House, via X.

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• Three weeks and four nominees later, House Republicans settled on a new Speaker Wednesday, a low-profile architect of the legal argument to overturn the results of the 2020 election for former President Donald Trump, via Gillian Brassil.

• The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is undergoing its most significant changes in nearly 30 years, and one of the new regulations will directly impact undocumented families, via Mathew Miranda.