Treasury secretary Janet Yellen and California governor Gavin Newsom welcomed Chinese general secretary Xi Jinping to San Francisco on Tuesday:
I was glad to welcome President Xi Jinping to California for his meeting with @POTUS and APEC Economic Leaders Week. pic.twitter.com/9e5tjXXhEv
— Secretary Janet Yellen (@SecYellen) November 15, 2023
There’s a lot to say about the implications of the Biden administration’s apparent return to a version of the old policy of engagement with Beijing. As Xi receives a warm welcome in the Bay Area, it’s worth referring back to what Senator Marco Rubio said in November of 2020 as the senate prepared to vote on then-president-elect Biden’s nominees: “Biden’s cabinet picks went to Ivy League schools, have strong resumes, attend all the right conferences & will be polite & orderly caretakers of America’s decline.”