When U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet Wednesday in California, U.S. officials do not expect any major breakthroughs that could dramatically improve the relationship.

Instead, White House officials say one of their main summit goals is simply to ensure that both sides continue talking, to reduce the chances that U.S.-China tensions spiral into conflict.

“We’re not talking about a long list of outcomes or deliverables,” a senior Biden administration official conceded during a telephone briefing to preview the Biden-Xi meeting.

“The goals here really are about managing the competition, preventing the downside risk of conflict, and ensuring channels of communication are open,” the official added.

The meeting, which will occur on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, will be the first in-person interaction between the two men in about a year. It will be Xi’s first U.S. visit in six years.

During that time, relations have sunk to perhaps their lowest point since the United States and China established diplomatic ties in 1979.

The two sides not only disagree over issues including Taiwan, trade, human rights, and global governance – U.S. and Chinese military planes and ships now regularly have close and dangerous encounters in the East and South China Sea

The Pentagon has repeatedly warned that such encounters could turn deadly. But until recently, U.S. officials have had fewer and fewer venues to raise such complaints, as Beijing closed many of the communications channels to protest U.S. actions.

Beijing’s change in tone

In the months leading up to the Biden-Xi meeting, China’s opposition to dialogue began to soften.

U.S. and Chinese officials now have held preliminary talks on a wide range of issues, including arms control, macroeconomics, and climate change.

In some instances, Xi surprised visiting U.S. delegations with a personal reception that many observers saw as notably warm.

“I have said many times, including to several presidents, we have 1,000 reasons to improve China-U.S. relations, but not one reason to ruin them,” Xi told a visiting group of U.S. senators in Beijing.

Analysts say Xi’s change in tone can be attributed to domestic factors, such as slower than expected post-Covid economic growth and China’s struggle to attract foreign investment amid U.S. trade restrictions.

By engaging with Washington, Xi may be trying to demonstrate to his domestic audience and international partners that he remains in control of China’s most important bilateral relationship, says Amanda Hsiao, a senior China analyst at the Crisis Group.

Beijing was also likely caught off guard “by just how hostile of an external environment that it’s facing now,” said Hsiao. She cites the international backlash to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in a “narrative of democracies versus authoritarian countries.”

“That created…a rallying effect for Washington and its allies and partners to form a bit of an anti-China coalition,” Hsiao added, citing expanded U.S. alliances with South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.

Small steps

Though few expect the Biden-Xi meeting to transform the relationship, officials and analysts point to several areas of progress that could soon be announced.

Last week, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said the United States and China – the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters – have reached “understandings and agreements” that could lead to a more successful United Nations climate change conference later this month in Dubai. Details, Kerry said, would be released soon.

Biden may push Xi to take steps to reduce the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl, a dangerous narcotic that is responsible for tens of thousands of drug overdoses in the United States each year.

The fentanyl issue represents a possible area where the two sides “can work immediately to enhance mutual trust and cooperation,” said Zichen Wang, a research fellow at the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization research organization.

“According to press reports, China has a positive attitude towards the fentanyl issue and there is room to establish a regular communication and control mechanism with the U.S. on the matter,” Wang added.

China ended all talks over the fentanyl issue last year, after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in a show of support for the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.

At the time, China also halted military dialogue with the United States – a matter of particular concern for Biden officials.

According to a White House official, Biden will press Xi “assertively” on Wednesday to restore more military-to-military communications.

However, Nathaniel Sher, a senior research analyst at Carnegie China, warns that one meeting is unlikely to create a durable floor under the U.S.-China relationship, especially ahead of elections in the United States and Taiwan.

“One meeting, however, can prevent relations from deteriorating further,” he said.
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Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott abruptly announced late Sunday that he was dropping out of the 2024 race, a development that surprised his donors and stunned his campaign staff just two months before the start of voting in Iowa’s leadoff GOP caucuses.

The South Carolina senator, who entered the race in May with high hopes, made the surprise announcement on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Night in America” with Trey Gowdy, one of his closest friends. The news was so unanticipated that one campaign worker told The Associated Press that campaign staff found out Scott was dropping out by watching the show.

“I love America more today than I did on May 22,” Scott said Sunday. “But when I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate. I am suspending my campaign. I think the voters who are the most remarkable people on the planet have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim.’”

Scott’s impending departure comes as he and the rest of the GOP field have struggled in a race that has been dominated by former President Donald Trump.

Despite four criminal indictments and a slew of other legal challenges, Trump continues to poll far ahead of his rivals, leading many in the party to conclude the race is effectively over, barring some stunning change of fortune.

Scott, in particular, has had trouble gaining traction in the polls, despite millions spent on his behalf by high-profile donors. In his efforts to run a positive campaign, he was often overshadowed by other candidates — particularly on the debate stage, where he seemed to disappear as others sparred. It was unclear whether Scott would qualify for the upcoming fourth debate, which will require higher polling numbers and more donors.

Scott is the second major candidate to leave the race since the end of October. Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his campaign two weeks ago, announcing at a Republican Jewish Coalition gathering in Las Vegas, “This is not my time.” Pence, however, was polling behind Scott and was in a far more precarious financial position.

Scott said he wouldn’t immediately be endorsing any of his remaining Republican rivals.

“The voters are really smart,” Scott said. “The best way for me to be helpful is to not weigh in on who they should endorse.”

He also appeared to rule out serving as vice president, saying the No. 2 slot “has never been on my to-do list for this campaign, and it’s certainly not there now.”

Scott’s departure leaves Nikki Haley, Trump’s first United Nations ambassador and the former South Carolina governor, as the sole South Carolinian in the race.

As governor, Haley appointed Scott — then newly elected to his second U.S. House term — to the Senate in 2012, and the fact that both were in the 2024 race had created an uncomfortable situation for many of the donors and voters who had supported them both through the years.

It also sparked some unpleasant on-stage moments during the first three GOP debates, with the longtime allies — who for a time had also shared political consultants — trading tense jabs. After the surprise announcement, some of Scott’s donors said they would be switching to back Haley in the primary.

In a post on X on Sunday night, Haley called Scott “a good man of faith and an inspiration to so many,” adding that the GOP primary “was made better by his participation in it.”

Scott’s team was so surprised by his exit that just 13 minutes before he announced his departure, his campaign sent out an email soliciting supporters for donations to further Scott’s “strong leadership and optimistic, positive vision to lead our country forward.” Saying that “EVERYTHING is on the line” to win the White House, the email went on offering readers “ONE LAST CHANCE to donate this weekend and help Tim reach his campaign goal.”

Campaign staffers expressed their extreme irritation to the AP in light of the candidate recently shifting staff and money from New Hampshire to Iowa in an effort to boost his standing in the leadoff caucus.

A senior staffer characterized the experience as incredibly frustrating, saying that staff had been working around the clock to accommodate the move, only to completely reverse it. A

s with the campaign worker who said Scott’s staff found out about his departure by watching the senator on TV, the worker was not authorized to discuss the internal deliberations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Many donors were surprised and saddened by Scott’s announcement, though they praised him for stepping aside to give Republicans a chance to coalesce behind a Trump alternative.

Eric Levine, a New York-based donor who was raising money for Scott, said he was caught totally off guard.

“He stepped aside with dignity. He is a true patriot. I could not have been prouder to have supported him,” said Levine, a vocal Trump critic. He said he would now be supporting Haley.

“She is our last best hope to defeat Donald Trump and then take back the White House,” Levine said.

Chad Walldorf, a South Carolina businessman and longtime Scott supporter and donor, thought Scott’s decision was in the best interest of the Republican Party.

“I’ve always thought the field needs to winnow quickly so we can get behind a good alternative to Trump, so I greatly respect Tim for unselfishly stepping aside rather than waiting until too late,” said Walldorf, who added he’s now backing Haley.

Mikee Johnson, a South Carolina businessman and Scott donor who served as his national finance co-chairman, told the AP that he knew before Scott’s TV appearance that he would be suspending his campaign.

“He is honorable, knows his supporters were prepared to support him for the duration, and was not going to ask that of his friends and supporters,” said Johnson. “He is energized and ready for the next phase. … I told him I did not have a single regret.”

Many of Scott’s former 2024 rivals issued statements Sunday night wishing him well.

On social media, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis commended him as a “strong conservative with bold ideas about how to get our country back on track,” adding, “I respect his courage to run this campaign and thank him for his service to America and the U.S. Senate.”

Pence called Scott “a man of faith and integrity who brought his optimistic vision and inspiring personal story to people all across this country.”

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to news of Scott’s exit. But Trump has been careful not to criticize the senator, leading some in his orbit to consider Scott a potential vice presidential pick.

The former president and his team had welcomed a large field of rivals, believing they would splinter the anti-Trump vote and prevent a clear challenger from emerging.

Scott’s next move is not clear. He has said that his 2022 Senate reelection would be his last and has at times been mentioned as a possible candidate for South Carolina governor, which is next up in 2026. Gov. Henry McMaster, a Trump backer, is term-limited, and the GOP primary is expected to be heated.

 
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A wildfire burning in a remote Hawaii rainforest is underscoring a new reality for the normally lush island state just a few months after a devastating blaze on a neighboring island leveled an entire town and killed at least 99 people.

No one was injured and no homes burned in the latest fire, which scorched mountain ridges on Oahu, but the flames wiped out irreplaceable native forestland that’s home to nearly two dozen fragile species. And overall, the ingredients are the same as they were in Maui’s historic town of Lahaina: severe drought fueled by climate change is creating fire in Hawaii where it has almost never been before.

“It was really beautiful native forest,” said JC Watson, the manager of the Koolau Mountains Watershed Partnership, which helps take care of the land. He recalled it had uluhe fern, which often dominate Hawaii rainforests, and koa trees whose wood has traditionally been used to make canoes, surfboards and ukuleles.

“It’s not a full-on clean burn, but it is pretty moonscape-looking out there,” Watson said.

The fact that this fire was on Oahu’s wetter, windward side is a “red flag to all of us that there is change afoot,” said Sam ’Ohu Gon III, senior scientist and cultural adviser at The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii.

The fire mostly burned inside the Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge, which is home to 22 species listed as endangered or threatened by the U.S. government. They include iiwi and elepaio birds, a tree snail called pupu kani oe and the Hawaiian hoary bat, also known as opeapea. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge, does not know yet what plants or wildlife may have been damaged or harmed by the fire, spokesperson Kristen Oleyte-Velasco said.

The fire incinerated 6.5 square kilometers (2.5 square miles) since first being spotted on Oct. 30 and was 90% contained as of Friday. Officials were investigating the cause of the blaze roughly 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Honolulu.

The flames left gaping, dark bald spots amid a blanket of thick green where the fire did not burn. The skeletons of blackened trees poked from the charred landscape.

The burn area may seem relatively small compared to wildfires on the U.S. continent, which can raze hundreds of square miles. But Hawaii’s intact native ecosystems aren’t large to begin with, especially on smaller islands like Oahu, so even limited fires have far-reaching consequences.

One major concern is what plants will grow in place of the native forest.

Hawaii’s native plants evolved without encountering regular fires, and fire is not part of their natural life cycle. Faster-growing non-native plants with more seeds tend to sprout in place of native species afterward.

Watson said an Oahu forest near the latest fire had uluhe ferns, koa trees and ohia trees before a blaze burned less than a square mile of it 2015. Now the land features invasive grasses that are more fire-prone, and some slow-growing koa.

A much larger 2016 fire in the Waianae mountains on the other side of Oahu took out one of the last remaining populations of a rare tree gardenia, said Gon.

There are cultural losses when native forest burns. Gon recalled an old Central Oahu story about a warrior who was thrown off a cliff while battling an enemy chief. His fall was stopped by an ohia tree, another plant common in the incinerated area. 

Feathers from Hawaii’s forest birds were once used to make cloaks and helmets worn by chiefs.

Watson’s organization is coordinating with the Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct initial surveys of the damage. They’ll devise a restoration plan that will include invasive species control and planting native species. But there are limits to what can be done.

“It’ll never be able to be returned to its previous state within our lifetimes,” Watson said. “It’s forever changed, unfortunately.”

The Mililani Mauka fire — named after the area near where the fire began — burned in the Koolau mountains. These mountains are on Oahu’s wetter, windward side because they trap moisture and rain that move across the island from the northeast.

But repeated and more prolonged episodes of drought are making even the Koolaus dry. Gon expects more frequent Koolau fires in the future.

“There has been a huge uptick in the last 10 years, largely in Waianae range, which is the western and drier portion of the island,” Gon said. “But now we’re seeing fires in the wet section of the island that normally doesn’t see any fires at all.”

Hawaii fires are almost always started by humans, so Gon said more needs to be done to raise awareness about prevention. Native forests could be further protected with buffer zones by planting less flammable vegetation in former sugarcane and pineapple plantation lands often found at lower elevations, he said.

Many of these now-fallow fields sprout dry, invasive grasses. Such grasses fueled the blaze that raced across Lahaina in August, highlighting their dangers. The cause of that fire is still being investigated, but it may have been sparked by downed power lines that ignited dry grass. Winds related to a powerful hurricane passing to the south helped spread the blaze, which destroyed more than 2,000 buildings and homes for some 8,000 people.

The fire is likely to affect Oahu’s fresh water supply, though this is challenging to measure. Oahu’s 1 million residents and visitors get their drinking water from aquifers, but it usually takes decades for rain to seep through the ground to recharge them. Native forests are the best at absorbing rain, so the disappearance of high-quality forest is certain to have some effect, Watson said.

State officials are seeking additional funding from the Legislature next year for updated firefighting equipment, firebreaks, new water sources for fire suppression, replanting native trees and plants, and seed storage.

Firefighters and rain last week finally tamped down the Oahu blaze, but Gon urged action now “to make sure that it doesn’t turn into yearly fires nibbling away at the source of our water supply.”
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Activists protesting corporate profits, environmental abuses, poor working conditions and the Israel-Hamas war marched Sunday in downtown San Francisco, united in their opposition to a global trade summit that will draw President Joe Biden and leaders from nearly two dozen countries.

Protests are expected throughout this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ conference, which could draw more than 20,000 attendees, including hundreds of international journalists. The No to APEC coalition, made up of more than 100 grassroots groups, says trade deals struck at summits such as APEC exploit workers and their families.

It’s unlikely world leaders will even glimpse the protests given the strict security zones accessible only to attendees at the Moscone Center conference hall and other summit sites. But Suzanne Ali, an organizer for the Palestinian Youth Movement, says the U.S. government needs to be held to account for supplying weapons to Israel in its war against Hamas.

“Even if they cannot see us, as we’re mobilizing and marching together, they will know that we’re out there,” she said.

San Francisco has a long tradition of loud and vigorous protests, as do trade talks. In 1999, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Seattle during a World Trade Organization conference. Protesters succeeded in delaying the start of the conference and captured global attention as overwhelmed police fired tear gas and plastic bullets and arrested hundreds of people.

Chile withdrew as APEC host in 2019 due to mass protests. Last year, when Thailand hosted the summit in Bangkok, pro-democracy protesters challenged the legitimacy of the Thai prime minister. Police fired at the crowd with rubber bullets that injured several protesters and a Reuters journalist.

Chief Bill Scott of the San Francisco Police Department said he expects several protests a day, although it’s uncertain how many will materialize. He warned against criminal behavior.

“People are welcome to exercise their constitutional rights in San Francisco, but we will not tolerate people committing acts of violence, or property destruction or any other crime,” Scott said. “We will make arrests when necessary.”

APEC, a regional economic forum, was established in 1989 and has 21 member countries, including the world’s two largest economic superpowers — China and the U.S — as well as Mexico, Brazil and the Philippines. An accompanying CEO summit is scheduled for this week, which critics also plan to protest Wednesday.

Headlining the summit is a highly anticipated meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who rarely — if at all — encounters protesters on home soil.

China has heavy security ahead of any events within its borders to ensure no protests occur. It also steps up border checks at city limits and at transit points such as railway stations and airports. Human rights activists based in China will often receive visits or phone calls from police ahead of important events as reminders to not demonstrate.

Rory McVeigh, sociology professor and director of the Center for the Study of Social Movements at the University of Notre Dame, said politicians use protests to gauge public opinion and that media attention helps.

“Probably a lot of protests just don’t make much difference, but occasionally they do, and occasionally they can make a huge difference,” he said.

The United Vietnamese American Community of Northern California plans to protest Xi and Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong. The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines will be rallying for the rights of Indigenous Filipinos and protesting the presence of President Bongbong Marcos, the son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Protesters are disappointed that San Francisco, with its rich history of standing up for the working class, would host CEOs of companies and leaders of countries that they say do great harm.

“It’s silly, from the mayor to the governor to the president, they want to say this is a great idea to have all these people who have been profiting off the intersecting crises of our time,” said Nik Evasco, a climate activist. “It’s just sickening.”
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English soldier Ken Hay was trapped behind German lines and captured while on night patrol in 1944, days after joining the Allied invasion of Normandy, a turning point in World War Two.

The ambush near the bitterly contested “Hill 112” came during weeks of fighting after the largest seaborne assault in history, which began the liberation of France from Nazi German occupation.

“Thirty of us went out, 16 including my brother got back, five of us got captured and nine got killed,” Hay said.

As many nations around the world commemorate last century’s wars and other conflicts during a weekend of remembrance, preparations are already under way to mark next year’s 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy.

Born in the English county of Essex, Hay took part in the early reinforcements of Juno Beach, which had been stormed under Canadian command on D-Day, June 6. He is now an active ambassador for the nearby British Normandy Memorial, overlooking Gold Beach in the U.K. sector.

Until two years ago, Britain was alone among allies on the Western front in not having a dedicated Normandy memorial.

An elegant rectangular colonnade now sits on former farmland chosen by veterans themselves at Ver-sur-Mer.

In total, 22,440 servicemen and two servicewomen of more than 30 nationalities who died under British command between June 6 and Aug. 31, 1944, are commemorated on 160 stone columns, as well as a ceremonial wall for those who perished on D-Day itself.

The 30-million-pound ($37 million) memorial was financed by fines levied on banks by the British government, as well as private donations.

Hay, 98, is helping raise funds for an educational pavilion in time for next year’s 80th anniversary, likely to be attended by Britain’s King Charles III and French President Emmanuel Macron.

With the average age of a dwindling number of veterans also 98, it will be the last major chance to gather some of those who helped their fallen comrades push back the Western front.

Unusually, the memorial is laid out by date of death.

“The fact that names are presented chronologically means you get an understanding of how the battle unfolded: the days that are particularly fierce,” said operations manager Sacha Marsac.

“When a whole unit is lost on the same day, their names are all next to each other.”

Too young

Neatly carved rows of names, ranks and ages can only hint at the personal stories. Four 16-year-olds presumably exaggerated their age to serve before the age of 18. The majority barely knew their 20s. The oldest: merchant seaman Thomas Hardwyre Milligan, 64.

Soldiers promoted unusually young, like a major of only 28, hint at heavy losses as their superiors were killed.

One name is honored with a special insignia. Corporal Sidney Bates posthumously received Britain’s Victoria Cross for “supreme gallantry” after repeatedly charging a critical German position with a light machine gun before dying of his wounds. He was 23.

A separate monument honors French civilians.

Veterans like Hay refuse to call themselves heroes, deferring to those who fell in battle. Yet many suffered hardship, injury and separation.

“I joined at the age of 17 in 1943, but they wouldn’t call me [to serve] until I was 17-and-a-half; they said I was too young to die,” Hay said in a recent interview.

For six days after capture, he and fellow prisoners were hauled in a cattle wagon to Stalag VIII-D prison camp, now in the Czech Republic. Later he was sent to work in a Polish coal mine.

Then, in early 1945, began a three-month march westward as German captors moved their prisoners ahead of the advancing Soviet army.

In a forest near Regensburg, Germany, guns approached from the West and the German commanding officer accepted the war was over.

“That was April 20. From Jan. 23, we had done 1,000 miles,” Hay said. “I’ve got a good pair of feet.”
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