Newsom warmly received during China visit — except for the toboggan ride

BEIJING —  While traveling through China this week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has delved into many dense and thorny subjects.

Fentanyl and climate change were the main topics of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Newsom said. He’s discussed carbon markets, methane emissions, electric battery storage, renewable energy, vehicle electrification, biodiversity and land conservation with numerous government officials, and signed agreements to reduce air pollution and encourage green energy.

In meetings with China’s top diplomat, Newsom said, he raised concerns about human rights, the war between Israel and Hamas and the plight of David Lin, a Californian who’s been detained in China for more than a decade.

Yet it was a toboggan ride down the side of a mountain that demanded a surprising dose of diplomacy.

After a morning of meetings about climate strategies Thursday with leaders of five Chinese provinces, the governor and his aides traveled to the historic Great Wall for an afternoon of sightseeing and a picturesque meeting with the U.S. ambassador.

But first, Newsom planned to have a little fun riding a huge swerving slide that runs down a mountainside below the Great Wall. The attraction involves riding a ski-lift-type gondola up the mountain, hopping onto a toboggan — basically a sled with wheels — and riding down a metal chute.

Chinese security did not think that was a good idea. First, they tried to talk Newsom’s staff out of the plan. Then, as Newsom approached the entrance, Chinese police again tried to put on the kibosh. They held Newsom and his entourage at the gate while they made the case to the governor’s security detail that the ride wasn’t safe. A lengthy back and forth ensued, with a harried interpreter in the middle of it all.

Newsom’s security officers remained steadfast that they had checked out the ride in advance and were comfortable with the setup. Eventually, they prevailed. Newsom stepped onto the gondola with an aide and rode up the mountain. At the top, he stood in line until it was his turn and then rode down on a toboggan.

Consider it the international incident that wasn’t.

The heightened concern that something might go wrong while Newsom was on the child-friendly ride was one small reflection of the weight of his visit. Newsom is the first U.S. governor to visit China since 2019, and has been welcomed with great fanfare in every city on the tour.

“Chinese people currently lack faith in Washington as a whole and have distrust toward some U.S. politicians. However, the welcome for Governor Newsom’s visit is sincere and warm,” says an editorial in the Global Times, a Communist Party newspaper.

After walking the Great Wall with U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Newsom addressed a crowd gathered to celebrate partnerships between California and China that have already spurred action to reduce pollution and develop a cap and trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He talked about the large number of Chinese Americans who live in California and shared childhood memories of spending time with his dad in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

“It’s not lost on me that we are on the Great Wall of China talking about how we can tear down the walls of division between our countries,” Newsom said.

I’m Laurel Rosenhall, The Times’ Sacramento bureau chief, traveling this week to report on Newsom’s trip through China. Catch up on our coverage so far:

• Newsom meets with President Xi Jinping in Beijing amid troubled U.S.-China ties
• After Israel visit, Newsom heads to China for climate talks. But can he avoid global conflicts?
• Despite diplomatic tension, Newsom is going to China to promote cooperation on climate change

Here’s what else is going on this week in California politics:

Instagram, Facebook accused of harming kids

The social media Goliath Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was sued this week by California and a slew of other states over allegations that it “designed and deployed harmful features” on the main social network and its platform Instagram despite knowing about the mental health risks to young people.

It’s the latest government response to the influence social media platforms have over our lives — and the lives and well-being of children, reports The Times’ Queenie Wong.

The 233-page lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Northern California, alleges the social media giant violated state consumer protection laws and a federal law aimed at safeguarding the privacy of children younger than 13. Other states such as Florida, Utah and Vermont filed separate lawsuits. A total of 41 states and Washington, D.C., took legal actions against Meta.

“Meta has harnessed its extraordinary innovation and technology to lure youth and teens to maximize use of its products,” state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said at a news conference in San Francisco. “In seeking to bolster profits, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its products.

The legal actions highlight how states are trying to address potential mental health dangers exacerbated by social media platforms, including body image issues, anxiety and depression. Meta was compared to the tobacco industry in a separate news conference with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general including from Colorado, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

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Israel-Hamas war puts foreign policy records of Democratic Senate candidates in spotlight

Hamas’ attack on Israel and Israel’s bombardment of Gaza have pointed up the differences among the foreign policy instincts — and experience — of the leading California Democratic candidates for the late Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat, reports Cameron Joseph from The Times’ Washington bureau.

Just a few days after terrorists attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001, as Congress rushed to give President George W. Bush wide-ranging power to invade Afghanistan, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) faced a decision that would come to define her career.

Lee decided that the authorization as written “could set the stage for forever wars,” she told The Times in a recent interview. After intense deliberation, she decided to vote no — the only member of Congress to oppose the bill.

Twenty-two years later, Lee, Burbank Rep. Adam B. Schiff, and Irvine Rep. Katie Porter are the top Democrats in the race for the U.S. Senate seat once held by Dianne Feinstein, for decades a key player on foreign and national security policy. California voters now face a choice among candidates with vastly divergent approaches to — and experience with — foreign policy.

Lee’s immediate reaction to the attack on Israel by Hamas militants this month sounded much like her response to 9/11: “Our country has a responsibility, I believe, to call for a cease-fire and to call for the whole world to come together to try to stop the escalation of what is taking place in the Middle East. And peace is possible if we can bring all parties together to talk,” she said at a candidate forum the weekend of the attack.

Schiff sounded a different note: “The only sentiment I want to express right now when Israel is going through its own 9/11 is unequivocal support for the security and the right of Israel to defend itself,” he said.

Porter offered a hawkish response: “I stand with Israel in this time and I condemn the loss of lives — both of Palestinians and Israelis who are being victims of this terror,” she said, asserting that “the United States has allowed terrorism to flourish and has refused to take a strong enough stance against Iran” — which backs the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

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Skelton: Like Reagan, Schwarzenegger and Brown, Newsom uses veto pen to rein in spending by California lawmakers
It’s the job of a governor to play adult supervisor and not give adolescent state legislators all the spending money they’d like. Otherwise, they’d break the family bank. Gov. Ronald Reagan cherished the “line item veto” and often lamented not possessing the tool as president. Gov. Gavin Newsom, however, hardly ever picks up his blue pencil. He barely touches a spending plan before signing what he’s sent by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. That’s because he and legislative leaders already have negotiated the final version of the budget before lawmakers pass it.

Barabak: Laphonza Butler aces her first political test, passing on uphill Senate run
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California Republicans in swing districts backed Trump ally Jordan for speaker
He built his brand on being a roaring archconservative unafraid to take on liberals. He was a pioneer of this new right-wing faction that has become the face of the Republican Party. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan ended his bid to lead the lower chamber after facing stiff opposition from moderates and other lawmakers in key districts. But all five California Republicans from districts President Biden won in 2020 — Young Kim of La Habra, David Valadao of Hanford, Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita, Michelle Steel of Seal Beach and John Duarte of Modesto — stood firmly behind Jordan throughout his three failed attempts to secure the gavel.