Recently, the American "Politico" published an article saying that California Governor Newsom's visit to China is a major victory for both Sino-US relations and Newsom himself, because Newsom has received a high-level reception from China, and it also paves the way for the Chinese and US heads of state to meet at the APEC summit in San Francisco in November.
The California Governor's Office said Newsom's visit to China was historic and that Newsom's itinerary consisted of three main goals: to promote climate action and cooperation, to promote economic development and tourism, and to strengthen cultural ties, and to combat hatred against Asian Americans.
On climate issues, Newsom's stance stands in stark contrast to that of US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry's visit to China. During his visit to China, Kerry made it clear that he would not make concessions to China on climate issues, especially in the context of the continuous decline in Sino-US relations since Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
California Governor Newsom
But Newsom's attitude on this issue is clearly more savvy than Kerry's. On climate issues, Newsom focused his discussion on topics such as the low-carbon economy, green energy, and new energy vehicles, rather than unilaterally demanding that China reduce carbon emissions, so Newsom did not get as much on this topic as Kerry did.
Newsom also has his own selfish intentions on climate issues, and as the governor of California, the richest country in the United States, Newsom is trying to package himself as a leader in the field of climate issues in the United States, which will help Newsom gain more influence in the United States.
Before Newsom's visit to China, he signed a number of state bills on climate issues, such as Newsom's hope that California will get rid of its dependence on oil and gas, and even require California to completely ban the sale of fuel vehicles in California after 2035, and achieve zero emissions and stop oil exploration and exploitation in California by 2045.
Newsom visits China
Newsom's attitude on climate issues has also received immediate positive feedback from Californians, who generally believe that Newsom's layout on climate issues is the right response to a series of natural disasters such as wildfires and drought in California. In addition, the U.S. media is very optimistic about Newsom's career prospects, and even believes that he will become a strong contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. At that time, the younger generation of Americans will be the main group of American voters, and if Newsom can portray himself as a climate leader, this experience will be a plus for Newsom's campaign.
However, Newsom's visit to China has also highlighted a completely new problem: in addition to the "donkey-elephant dispute" within the US political arena, there are also differences and contradictions between the US federal and local governments in their attitudes toward China. What's more worth mentioning is that Newsom, as a Democrat, and his visit to China actually represents the hope of some Democrats to break the deadlock between China and the United States and strengthen exchanges between China and the United States.
However, this move was also opposed by Republicans and conservatives, so at the beginning of his visit to China, the US media basically did not carry out large-scale coverage. It was not until Newsom's visit to China was received by us at a high level, and even after the Chinese head of state came forward to meet with him, that the US media had to report on the matter on a large scale.
Global climate issues
But even so, conservative-controlled US media coverage of the issue has generally shown negative tendencies, such as criticizing Newsom's trip as betraying American values. Of course, the deeper reason is that both the establishment in the Democratic Party and the establishment in the Republican Party in the United States are dissatisfied with Newsom's excessive proximity to China.
In terms of relations with China, the attitude of the establishment of the two parties is very similar, and both hope to bind the whole country to China unanimously, but the federal government does not have a high level of control over the following states, and each state is very happy to do business with China, especially California and Texas, which are the top two economies in the United States. In other words, the exchanges between China and the United States have fallen into a strange circle, and there is less contact and exchange between the two sides at the national level. However, economic and cultural exchanges between China and the United States are still active, which also confirms the saying that the "vitality of China-US relations lies in the locality".
The US establishment's China strategy can be summed up in one sentence: to ease relations in the process of confrontation, force China to make concessions with both soft and hard measures, and maintain the world order dominated by the United States and the West from destruction, so as to continue to gather the world's wool. But this idea is undoubtedly delusional, because China will not compromise.
In order to eliminate as much as possible some of the impact of Newsom's visit to China. Immediately after Newsom concluded his visit to China, Montana Governor Jenfort visited Taiwan. Jenfort and Trump are the same kind of people, both Republicans, equally hard-line radicals. The role of Jenfort's visit is very clear, that is, to offset the benefits of Newsom's visit to China and to bring the tone of Sino-US relations back to competition and confrontation.
Because of the success of Newsom's visit to China, California will carry out deeper cooperation with China in the field of new energy and other fields, and achieve further development, then California will become a catfish, which will inevitably lead to further confrontation and tearing between the local government and the federal government in the United States on the China issue, and the American establishment will gradually lose the initiative in formulating the China strategy. Of course, Newsom, as a Democrat, also intends to run for the 2028 presidential election, so out of the bipartisan dispute, the Republican Party came forward to sabotage is also one of the reasons.
The U.S.-China game
This also fully reflects the political ideology of the zero-sum game between the United States and Western countries, which regards the competition between China and the United States as a life-and-death duel. Judging from the results of Newsom's visit to China, this visit itinerary provides a new model for communication and exchanges between China and the United States, but judging from the Biden administration's approach, the White House does not accept this win-win situation, but continues to force China to accept the "new order" proposed by the United States, weakening China's development potential.
Newsom's visit to China also sent a new message to China, that is, the US state and federal governments do not wear the same pants, and the attitude of US states may become a key factor in determining the outcome of the game between China and the United States.
By developing relations with various states and cities in the United States, China can build bridges of cooperation with economic mutual benefit, which can also bypass the US federal government's suppression strategy against China to a certain extent, and even form another kind of "local encirclement of Washington".