Just days before the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre—a date symbolizing one of the Chinese Communist Party’s most brutal crackdowns on dissent—members of Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration were quietly meeting with Chinese officials to discuss trade cooperation. The timing, tone, and discretion of the gathering raise serious questions about California’s increasingly cozy relationship with Beijing—and the political calculus behind it.
Held during the China-California Business Forum, an event hosted by the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, the meeting included a private session dubbed the “Bilateral Meeting of China Provinces and U.S. California Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment Cooperation.” This “working group” was originally formed under former Governor Jerry Brown to promote economic ties between California and China. Now, in an era of mounting national security concerns over Beijing’s influence in American institutions, that cooperation is drawing fire.
Among the loudest critics is State Armor CEO Michael Lucci, who called Newsom “Xi Jinping’s leading man in the United States,” accusing California leadership of undermining national security in pursuit of economic entanglement. Lucci warned that California’s engagement with China risks aligning with entities “back-stopped by China’s military, intelligence, and influence networks,” all while ignoring the regime’s human rights abuses and authoritarian practices.
Despite these concerns, the California State Transportation Agency confirmed that Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin attended the forum and delivered remarks at its opening ceremony. The agency insists his attendance was limited to the main event, distancing him from the private bilateral session. Still, other representatives from Democratic strongholds like Los Angeles were reportedly present, including Christine Peterson, an international trade advisor for Mayor Karen Bass.
The event’s sponsors add another layer to the controversy. Chinese corporate and state-linked entities including electric vehicle giant BYD, several Chinese banks and airlines, and even the China National Tourist Office helped fund the forum—entities with well-documented links to the Chinese Communist Party’s economic and geopolitical ambitions.
This isn’t Newsom’s first diplomatic dance with Beijing. He visited China in October 2023, pushing for a climate partnership while sidestepping more contentious issues such as intellectual property theft, cyber-espionage, and human rights. He later welcomed Xi Jinping to San Francisco for the APEC summit, where the optics of smooth diplomatic relations seemed to take precedence over geopolitical caution.
California’s defense? That climate collaboration between the world’s two largest subnational economies is essential. “It is appropriate that California and China collaborate to advance climate goals,” a Transportation Agency spokesperson said, emphasizing shared environmental priorities.
But for many observers, the optics of engaging with Beijing days before a solemn anniversary like Tiananmen Square are hard to overlook. The California government’s silence on that historical tragedy, juxtaposed with its enthusiasm for bilateral economic dialogue, suggests a troubling willingness to look the other way when convenient.
At a time when dozens of U.S. states are passing laws to limit Chinese land acquisition and federal agencies are indicting Chinese nationals for espionage and biological smuggling, Newsom’s administration is forging deeper ties with a regime that represents one of America’s most strategic threats.
