Blackstone Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman and Visa Inc. CEO Ryan McInerney will also join them at the soiree in San Francisco, according to people briefed on the matter. Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla earlier confirmed he would attend the event, as he spoke on the sidelines of a summit that’s part of this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meetings.

Technology CEOs including Qualcomm Inc.’s Cristiano Amon and Broadcom Inc.’s Hock Tan are also on the guest list, said the people, who asked not to be identified sharing details of a private event.

Xi will have the chance to talk up China’s economy to some of the world’s most-powerful foreign investors at the event, after a post-pandemic reopening expected to spur global growth failed to deliver. The Chinese leader will go into the dinner after wrapping an afternoon of talks with US President Joe Biden, aimed at stabilizing a tumultuous bilateral relationship that’s also troubled investors.

China is a major market for consumer electronics, accounting for about one-fifth of sales for Cupertino, California-based Apple. Qualcomm and Broadcom are among the world’s largest makers of chips for mobile phones, and their components are used in millions of handsets sold across China. Representatives of Apple, Qualcomm and Broadcom either declined to comment or didn’t respond to requests for comment.

China sees investment by international companies as key to upgrading its faltering economy and has stepped up efforts to attract foreign investors this year. Its tightening of national security controls and messaging that foreign actors pose spy risks, along with years of policy crackdowns, have left some skeptical of that message.

“The Chinese economy is clearly weakening. There’s no question,” said Derek Scissors, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “But if you need to stay in China, and you’re worried about your position because of Chinese government behavior, it’s even more important to be able to talk to Xi.”

Details around the dinner have been closely guarded. Its hosts, the National Committee on U.S.–China Relations and the US-China Business Council, had in recent days remained silent even over which Chinese leader would attend the event, as well as its location.

Shortly before the event — being held at a San Francisco hotel where crowds gathered in support and in protest of China — the official program was available to attendees: Xi would address the dinner following an introduction from Chubb Ltd. CEO Evan Greenberg, chair of the committee.

Representative Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, claimed at an anti-CCP rally on Saturday that attendees were paying $40,000 to sit at Xi’s table. The Chinese leader is also expected to deliver an address to the dinner.

A group of Xi’s “old friends” from Iowa have also been invited to the dinner, Bloomberg earlier reported. The group hosted Xi during a visit to the US to learn about agricultural practices some 38 years ago, when he was a little-known Chinese Communist Party official.

–With assistance from Fran Wang, Gabrielle Coppola, Aisha Counts, Dawn Lim, Silla Brush, Mark Gurman and Ian King.

(Adds details on program starting in ninth paragraph.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

SAN FRANCISCO  — Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”

“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said Wednesday during a dinner speech with business leaders.

The gesture came at the end of a day in which Xi and President Joe Biden held their first face to face meeting in a year and pledged to try to reduce tensions. Xi did not share additional details on when or where pandas might be provided but appeared to suggest the next pair of pandas are most likely to come to California, probably San Diego.

The bears have long been the symbol of the U.S.-China friendship since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington in 1972, ahead of the normalization of bilateral relations. Later, Beijing loaned the pandas to other U.S. zoos, with proceeds going back to panda conservation programs.

The National Zoo’s three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, eight days ago began their long trip to China. After their departure, only four pandas are left in the United States, in the Atlanta Zoo.

“I was told that many American people, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas, and went to the zoo to see them off,” Xi said in his speech. He added that he learned the San Diego Zoo and people in California “very much look forward to welcoming pandas back.”

Xi is in California to attend a summit of Indo-Pacific leaders and for his meeting with Biden. He made no mention of the pandas during his public remarks earlier in the day as he met with Biden.

But relations showed signs of stabilization as Xi traveled to San Francisco to meet with Biden. The two men met for about four hours Wednesday at the picturesque Filoli Historic House & Garden, where they agreed to cooperate on anti-narcotics, resume high-level military communications and expand people-to-people exchanges.

The National Zoo’s exchange agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association had been set to expire in early December and negotiations to renew or extend the deal did not produce results.

The San Diego Zoo returned its pandas in 2019, and the last bear at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went home earlier this year.

___

Associated Press writer Ashraf Khalil in Washington contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden hailed his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Wednesday as the two agreed to take steps to curb fentanyl production and restore military communication during their summit.

The results, which were expected ahead of the talks, amount to progress in improving the still-tense US-China relationship. During a news conference following the summit, Biden said the negotiations with Xi were “some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had.”

“We haven’t always agreed,” Biden said, but his talks with Xi are always “straightforward.”

Biden had aimed to use the meeting to put the US-China relationship on steadier footing after months of tension between the two superpowers. Ahead of the talks, US officials were careful to manage expectations, saying they did not expect a long list of outcomes or even a joint leaders’ statement, as is customary after such summits. The primary objective for the talks appeared to be the restoration of channels of communication, principally through the military, to avoid the type of miscommunication or miscalculation US officials fear could lead to open conflict.

Biden said China agreed to go after companies who produce precursor chemicals to fentanyl, the powerful narcotic that has fueled a drug crisis in the United States. The US will watch closely to see if China follows up on the commitments made in the summit.

The president said the agreement from China to reduce precursor chemicals for fentanyl would “save lives” and said he appreciated Xi’s commitment on the issue.

Xi also agreed to mechanisms that would address potential military miscalculations, and agreed to forums for the two sides to present their concerns.

Senior Biden administration officials said leading up to Wednesday’s summit that their Chinese counterparts had been “reluctant” over the past few months to agree to re-establishing military-to-military communications.

But it was an issue that Biden himself and his top advisers like Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin raised in “nearly every conversation we’ve had with the Chinese,” as the US tried to underscore that it was “absolutely critical” that this channel be re-opened.

US officials said that the Chinese spy balloon incident, in particular, underscored the importance of military-to-military communications.

Trying to keep tension from tipping into conflict

Despite a deep and apparently warm personal relationship cultivated during their time as vice presidents – Biden wished Xi’s wife a happy birthday at one point during the summit, with the Chinese leader thanking him for the reminder – the two men have overseen a deterioration in US-China relations to the lowest level in decades.

The talks in California were “very direct” and included more back-and-forth discussion between the two men than their meeting a year ago, a senior US official said. The US president was “very direct” with Xi on a number of topics, the official said, while Xi also raised his concerns about rhetoric inside the United States about China.

Pressed on whether he trusts Xi, Biden said, “Trust but verify, as the old saying goes. That’s where I am,” describing the relationship between the US and China as “competitive.”

“My responsibility is to make this rational and manageable so it doesn’t result in conflict. That’s what I’m all about. … To find a place where we can come together and where we find mutual interest, and most importantly, in the interest of the American people. And that’s exactly what we’ll do,” he said.

According to readouts provided by US officials and Chinese state media, it appeared both leaders were very frank with one another.

Xi at one point called on the United States to “not scheme to suppress or contain China,” Chinese state media reported.

“China has no plans to surpass or unseat the United States, and the United States should not scheme to suppress or contain China,” Xi said, according to a readout released by China’s state news agency Xinhua.

The men had a “substantial” exchange on Taiwan and Xi made clear that concerns over the island were the biggest and most dangerous issue in US-China relations. Xi said China’s preference was for peaceful reunification and laid out conditions under which use of force would be utilized. Biden responded by reiterating the US position was to maintain peace and stability in the region.

“President Xi responded: Look, peace is all well and good, but at some point we need to move towards resolution more generally,” the senior US official said. Xi also urged the US to stop arming Taiwan and support China’s “peaceful reunification,” according to a readout released by Xinhua.

In the meeting, the US asked China to respect Taiwan’s electoral process in the lead-up to a vote in January. Despite continuing concerns about China’s massive military buildup around Taiwan, American officials emerged from the meeting believing Xi was not preparing for a massive invasion.

“Look, I reiterated what I’ve said since I’ve become president, and what every previous president of late has said: That we maintain an agreement that there is a One China policy and that I’m not going to change that. That’s not going to change,” Biden told reporters traveling with him in San Francisco. “And so that’s about the extent to which we discussed it.”

Other areas of discussion

During an exchange over the war between Israel and Hamas, Biden did most of the talking and Xi mostly listened, a senior US official said. Biden encouraged Xi to use China’s leverage with Iran to warn against a wider escalation. In the talks, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said they’d already held discussions with the Iranians on the topic.

It remained unclear to Biden’s aides afterward how seriously Iran was taking China’s messages. In the talks, Biden made clear to Xi that he viewed Hamas as separate from the Palestinians.

In one exchange about restrictions the US has applied on technology exports to China, Xi likened the steps to “technological containment.” Biden responded directly to say the US was not going to provide technology to China that could be used militarily against it.

Biden also raised direct concerns to Xi about harassment of American businesses in China, the official said.

The two men discussed artificial intelligence, and agreed to work together moving ahead on the new technology.

And Biden told Xi it was important China be more transparent on nuclear issues, as it rapidly expands its arsenal.

Biden did not “pull any punches,” the official said, noting Xi experiences little pushback within the Chinese system, adding that the US president was “respectful” but “clear.”

A highly choreographed meeting

With conflicts raging in the Middle East and Europe as he prepares to fight for reelection, Biden hoped to prevent another crisis from exploding on his watch. He was not only looking to demonstrate to Americans – but also to Xi directly – why an improved relationship with Beijing is in everyone’s interests.

“I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunication,” Biden told Xi as their talks got underway in a secluded estate south of San Francisco.

Speaking afterward, Xi offered his own view of the complex moment in US-China ties.

“Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed,” he said.

The optics of the summit were carefully negotiated between the two sides and the formal welcome to the estate was highly choreographed. As host of the meeting, Biden walked out of the building first to welcome Xi. A red carpet had been rolled out, with Marine guards and flags from both countries. The Chinese president’s black sedan pulled up and stopped at the end of the carpet. Xi emerged with a smile and the two men shook hands, each grasping the others’ wrists.

As the meeting got underway, Biden told Xi it is essential the two men have a frank understanding of each other.

Biden said the leaders had a responsibility to their populations to work together, including on issues of climate change, countering narcotics trafficking and approaching artificial intelligence. He added competition between US and China could not tilt toward conflict.

“As always, there is no substitute to face-to-face discussions. I’ve always found our discussions straightforward and frank,” Biden said.

Speaking after Biden, Xi offered starker view of US-China ties.

“The China-US relationship has never been smooth sailing over the past 50 years and more, and it always faces problems of one kind or another. Yet it has kept moving forward amidst twists and turns,” he said through a translator.

“For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option,” he went on. “It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other and conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides.”

Seeming to reject Biden’s view of “competition” between the US and China, Xi said he was “still of the view that major country competition is not the prevailing trend of current times and cannot solve the problems facing China and the United States or the world at large.”

A political tight rope

The overtures have been extended in the other direction too, with China’s senior-most officials – including its foreign minister – traveling to the US to meet with their American counterparts. US officials said that working-level consultations had been established with Beijing on especially sensitive topics like arms control and maritime issues.

Sources familiar with those efforts say that Washington has seen signs in recent months that the Chinese are beginning to accept the wisdom of both countries working together to strengthen their lines of communication and mitigate misunderstandings.

Still, as Biden was preparing for Wednesday’s summit, Republicans questioned his decision to seek a meeting with Xi. Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor seeking the GOP presidential nomination, claimed Biden had “begged” for the meeting.

Republicans on a House select committee on China sent Biden a letter spelling out areas they believe he must challenge Xi, including wrongful detention of Americans and the production of fentanyl.

Biden and his aides are acutely aware of the political backdrop for his meeting. Sullivan said Biden was “looking for … practical ways to show the American people that sitting down with Xi Jinping can defend American interests and also deliver progress on the priorities of the American people.”

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday adopted its first resolution since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to address the escalating crisis for Palestinian civilians during Israel’s aerial and ground attacks.

The vote in the 15-member council was 12-0 with the United States, United Kingdom and Russia abstaining. The U.S. and U.K. abstained because of the resolution’s failure to condemn the Oct. 7 incursion by Hamas, and Russia because of its failure to demand a humanitarian cease-fire, which Israel and the United States oppose.

The final draft watered down language from “demands” to “calls” for humanitarian pauses, and for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.”
Still, the resolution, which was sponsored by Malta, managed to overcome the serious differences that had prevented the council from adopting four previous resolutions.

In their Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people and took some 240 others hostage. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which Gaza’s health ministry says have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia tried unsuccessfully to amend the resolution just before the vote with language from a resolution adopted Oct. 27 by the 193-member General Assembly. It calls for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.”

The vote on the amendment was five countries in favor, the U.S. opposed, and nine abstentions. It was not adopted because it failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes.

United Arab Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, the Arab representative on the council, said its members supported the resolution, which she said will change the world’s perception that the Security Council “is indifferent.”

“This is a first, important and overdue step,” she said, stressing that it must be followed by work toward a lasting humanitarian cease-fire.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan issued a statement saying the resolution “is disconnected from reality and is meaningless.”

He criticized the council’s failure to condemn Hamas, claiming the militants were deliberately allowing the humanitarian situation to deteriorate so the United Nations would pressure Israel to back off of Gaza.

“It will not happen,” Erdan said. “Israel will continue to act until Hamas is destroyed and the hostages are returned.”

U.N. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, unlike General Assembly resolutions, but in practice many parties choose to ignore the council’s requests for action.

Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group, said the Security Council has called for cease-fires in wars from the Balkans to Syria “with little or no impact.”

The General Assembly resolution was approved on Oct. 27 by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions. Since then, Israel agreed Nov. 9 to four-hour pauses. But only limited aid has been delivered to Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt, and a humanitarian catastrophe has been brewing.

“The resolution is drafted in a way that puts no real political pressure on Israel, but the U.S. will likely urge Israel to show more flexibility on aid issues to satisfy global opinion,” Gowan told The Associated Press. “The council will not move from this text to a call for a cease-fire, unless facts change significantly on the ground.”

The resolution calls for humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a “sufficient number of days” for unhindered access by the U.N., Red Cross and other aid groups to get water, electricity, fuel, food and medical supplies to all those in need. It says the pauses also should allow for repair of essential infrastructure and enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts.

The resolution demands that “all parties comply with their obligations under international law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially children.”

France has issued an arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the alleged use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, a judicial source told CNN on Wednesday.

According to the source, two investigative judges on Tuesday issued four warrants against Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and two other senior officials, for complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes.

This is the first international arrest warrant against Assad. An Interpol ‘Red Notice’ is expected to follow, according to Michael Chammas, one of the plaintiff lawyers, who spoke to CNN from Germany.

A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest someone pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action, according to Interpol.

“All Interpol member states should then comply with the arrest warrant,” Chammas told CNN.

The legal case was brought forward by the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and the Syrian Archive in March 2021 “over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in the town of Douma and the district of Eastern Ghouta in August 2013, in attacks which killed more than 1,000 people,” the plaintiffs said in a statement Wednesday.

The Syrian government was accused of using poison gas in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, then a rebel stronghold that the regime had been desperately trying to take back for more than a year. It in turn accused opposition forces of carrying out the attacks themselves.

An investigation was opened “in response to a criminal complaint based on the testimony of survivors of the August 2013 attacks,” the plaintiffs’ statement read.

Lawyer Mazen Darwish, founder and director-general of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), said in a statement Wednesday that the decision “constitutes a historic judicial precedent.”

“It is a new victory for the victims, their families, and the survivors and a step on the path to justice and sustainable peace in Syria,” Darwish said.

Hadi al Khatib, founder of the Syrian Archive, said: “With these arrest warrants, France is taking a firm stand that the horrific crimes that happened ten years ago cannot and will not be left unaccounted for. We see France, and hopefully, other countries soon, taking the strong evidence that we have gathered over years and finally demanding criminal responsibility from the highest-level officials.”

CNN is trying to reach the Syrian government for comment.

The Syrian government has long been accused of war crimes, but it has repeatedly insisted its strikes target “terrorists.” It has denied using chemical weapons.

“We have never used our chemical arsenal in our history,” Assad said in 2017. He added that “morally” the Syrian government would never do this “because it’s not acceptable.”

HAVANA — Until recently, the space was the one-car garage of a private home in Cuba’s capital, Havana. Today, it is a well-stocked, if small, grocery store whose big board at the gate entices shoppers with such offerings as cooking oil, tomato sauce, Hershey’s cocoa powder, Nutella, shampoo, cookies and jam — a treasure trove in a country that is short of supplies.

The nameless shop in the residential neighborhood of El Vedado is one of dozens of tiny grocery stores that have sprung up around Cuba in recent months. Locals refer to them as “mipymes” — pronounced MEE-PEE-MEHS. The name derives from the Spanish words for the small- and medium-sized enterprises that were first allowed to open in 2021.

By allowing the new businesses, the Cuban government hoped to help an economy in crisis and strengthen local production. The almost 9,000 enterprises approved so far include the likes of sewing workshops, fisheries and construction firms, but it is small retail shops like the one in Vedado that seem to be setting up the fastest.

They also have greater visibility among the population because they offer many products not available elsewhere and usually operate out of private homes or garages.

Yet despite their modest setup, their prices are far from affordable, even for a doctor or a teacher, who make about 7,000 Cuban pesos a month (about $28 in the parallel market).

For example, one kilo (2.2 pounds) of powdered milk from the Czech Republic costs 2,000 Cuban pesos (about $8). A jar of Spanish mayonnaise goes for $4. Two and a half kilos (about 5 pounds) of chicken imported from the U.S. cost $8. There are also less essential goods: a jar of Nutella for $5, a bottle of bubbly Spanish wine for $6.

The customers able to use these small shops include Cuban families who receive remittances from abroad, tourism workers, diplomats, employees of other small- and medium-sized businesses, artists and high-performance athletes.

“This is a luxury,” Ania Espinosa, a state employee, said as she left one store in Havana, where she paid $1.50 (350 Cuban pesos) for a packet of potato chips for her daughter. “There are people who don’t earn enough money to shop at a mipyme, because everything is very expensive,” she added.

In addition to her monthly state salary, Espinosa makes some additional income and receives remittances from her husband, who has lived in the U.S. for a year and a half and previously lived in Uruguay.

A few yards away, Ingracia Virgen Cruzata, a retiree, lamented the high prices at the shop. “I retired with 2,200 (Cuban pesos a month or $8.80) last year and I can’t even buy a package of chicken,” she said.

Most of the products found in these stores are imported directly by the entrepreneurs through state-run import agencies, a system that has also opened the door to the emergence of bigger, better stocked stores.

In recent weeks, a private store, accessible only to those who own a car, opened on the outskirts of Havana, featuring giant shelves full of imported products such as Tide detergent, M&M’s candy and Goya brand black beans. Because of its size (it’s at least 10 times larger than the store in Vedado) — and diverse offerings — it has come to be known as the “Cuban Costco.”

The ration books that allow Cubans to buy small quantities of basic goods like rice, beans, eggs and sugar each month for payment equivalent to a few U.S. cents continue to be the basis of the model, allowing families to subsist for about 15 days. The rest of their diet must be acquired through other outlets, including state-owned stores and now the mipymes.

There are also state-run businesses offering a little more variety to complete domestic needs, but they charge in local debit or international credit cards. The novelty is that the small shops like the one in Vedado and bigger bodegas like the “Cuban Costco” are entirely private and accept payments in Cuban pesos.

“For the first time in 60 years, small- and medium-sized private corporations are now authorized by law. Now the challenge is for them to prosper in a very arid landscape for private initiative,” said Pedro Freyre, an analyst with the Florida-based Akerman Consulting and professor at Miami Law School.

“Cuba is a socialist country. The fundamental ideology has not changed. That’s still there. But I think that Cuba is in a very difficult economic moment and that has opened a door,” Freyre added.

LONDON — The British government said Wednesday it will still try to send some migrants on a one-way trip to Rwanda, despite the U.K. Supreme Court ruling that the contentious plan is unlawful because asylum-seekers would not be safe in the African country.

In a major blow to one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘s key policies, the country’s top court ruled that asylum-seekers sent to Rwanda would be “at real risk of ill-treatment” because they could be returned to the conflict-wracked home countries they’d fled.

Sunak, who has pledged to stop migrants reaching Britain in small boats across the English Channel, said the ruling “was not the outcome we wanted” but vowed to press on with the plan and send the first deportation flights to Rwanda by next spring.

He said the court had “confirmed that the principle of removing asylum-seekers to a safe third country is lawful,” even as it ruled Rwanda unsafe.

Sunak said the government also would seal a legally binding treaty with Rwanda that would address the court’s concerns, and would then pass a law declaring Rwanda a safe country.

Sunak said that if legal challenges to the plan continued, he was prepared to consider leaving international human rights treaties — a move that would draw strong opposition and international criticism.

Britain and Rwanda signed a deal in April 2022 to send migrants who arrive in the U.K. as stowaways or in boats to the East African country, where their asylum claims would be processed and, if successful, they would stay.

Britain’s government argues that the policy will deter people from risking their lives crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and would break the business model of people-smuggling gangs. No one has yet been sent to the country as the plan was challenged in the courts.

Opposition politicians, refugee groups and human rights organizations say the plan is unethical and unworkable. Charity ActionAid U.K. called the Supreme Court ruling a vindication of “British values of compassion and dignity.” Amnesty International said the government should “draw a line under a disgraceful chapter in the U.K.’s political history.”

Announcing the unanimous decision, President of the Supreme Court Robert Reed said Rwanda had a history of misunderstanding its obligations toward refugees and of “refoulement” — sending claimants back to the country they had sought protection from.

The judges concluded “there is a real risk that asylum claims will not be determined properly, and that asylum-seekers will in consequence be at risk of being returned directly or indirectly to their country of origin.”

“In that event, genuine refugees will face a real risk of ill-treatment,” they said.

The U.K. government has argued that while Rwanda was the site of a genocide that killed more than 800,000 people in 1994, the country has since built a reputation for stability and economic progress.

Critics say that stability comes at the cost of political repression. The court’s judgment noted human rights breaches including political killings that had led U.K. police “to warn Rwandan nationals living in Britain of credible plans to kill them on the part of that state.” They said Rwanda has a 100% rejection record for asylum-seekers from war-torn countries including Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.

The Rwandan government insisted the country is a safe place for refugees.

“Rwanda is committed to its international obligations,” government spokesperson Yolande Makolo wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We have been recognized by the UNHCR and other international institutions for our exemplary treatment of refugees.”

Rwandan opposition leader Frank Habineza said Britain shouldn’t try to offshore its migration obligations to the small African country.

“The U.K. should keep the migrants or send them to another European country, not to a poor country like Rwanda. I really think it’s not right (for) a country like the U.K. to run away from their obligations,” Habineza told the AP in Kigali.

Much of Europe and the U.S. is struggling with how best to cope with migrants seeking refuge from war, violence, oppression and a warming planet that has brought devastating drought and floods.

Though Britain receives fewer asylum applications than countries such as Italy, France or Germany, thousands of migrants from around the world travel to northern France each year in hopes of crossing the English Channel.

More than 27,300 have done that this year, a decline on the 46,000 who made the journey in all of 2022. The government says that shows its tough approach is working, though others cite factors including the weather.

The Rwanda plan has cost the British government at least 140 million pounds ($175 million) in payments to Rwanda before a single plane has taken off. The first deportation flight was stopped at the last minute in June 2022, when the European Court of Human Rights intervened.

The case went to the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which ruled that the plan was unlawful because Rwanda is not a “safe third country.” The government unsuccessfully challenged that decision at the Supreme Court.

The prime minister is under pressure from the right wing of the governing Conservative Party to take even more dramatic action to “stop the boats.” Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who was fired by Sunak on Monday, has said the U.K. should leave the European Convention on Human Rights if the Rwanda plan was blocked.

Sunak told lawmakers in the House of Commons that he was “prepared to change our laws and revisit those international relationships” if other actions failed to “stop our policy being repeatedly blocked.”

Legal experts said that would be an extreme move. Joelle Grogan, a senior researcher at the U.K. in a Changing Europe think tank, said leaving the European Convention would make Britain “an outlier in terms of its standards and its reputation for human rights protection.”

“The only reason in which you would leave the ECHR is if you wanted to start sending asylum-seekers to unsafe countries where they face threats to their life,” she said.

Associated Press writer Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda contributed to this report.

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops on Wednesday stormed into Gaza’s largest hospital, searching for traces of Hamas inside and beneath the facility, where newborns and hundreds of other patients have suffered for days without electricity and other basic necessities as fighting raged outside.

Details from the raid remained sketchy, but officials from Israel and Gaza presented different accounts of what was happening at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City: The Israeli army released video showing soldiers carrying boxes labeled as “baby food” and “medical supplies,” while health officials talked of terrified staff and patients as troops moved through the buildings.

After encircling Shifa for days, Israel faced pressure to prove its claim that Hamas had turned the hospital into a command center, using the patients, staff and civilians sheltering there to provide cover for its militants — part of Israel’s broader accusation that Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields.

Hamas and Gaza health officials deny militants operate in Shifa. Palestinians and rights groups say Israel has recklessly endangered civilians as it seeks to eradicate Hamas.

The war between Israel and Hamas erupted after the militant group killed some 1,200 people and seized around 240 captives in an Oct. 7 attack that shattered Israelis’ sense of security. Israeli airstrikes have since killed thousands of Palestinians and unleashed widespread destruction in Gaza.

More than 11,200 people, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, with most believed to be buried under the rubble. The ministry’s count does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.

As Israel tightens its hold on northern Gaza, leaders have talked of expanding the ground operation into the south to root out Hamas. Already, most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have crowded into the territory’s south, where a worsening fuel shortage Wednesday threatened to paralyze the delivery of humanitarian services and shut down mobile phone and internet service.

ISRAELI RAID INTO SHIFA

Israeli forces launched their raid into the large Shifa compound around 2 a.m. and appeared to remain there more than 15 hours later. It was not possible to independently assess the situation inside.

Munir al-Boursh, a senior official with Gaza’s Health Ministry inside the hospital, said Israeli forces ransacked the basement and other buildings, including those housing the emergency and surgery departments.

“Patients, women and children are terrified,” he said by phone to The Associated Press. Another doctor there, Adnan al-Bursh, told Al-Jazeera TV that the troops removed displaced families who had been sheltering in the basement.

Neither the Palestinians nor the military reported any clashes inside the hospital. The military said its troops killed four militants outside the hospital at the start of the operation. Throughout days of fighting in the surrounding streets, there has been no report of militants firing from inside Shifa.

The Israeli military said it was carrying out a “precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the hospital,” adding that it was separate from where patients and medical staff are located.

The military said the soldiers were accompanied by medical teams bringing in incubators. It shared footage of them unloading equipment inside the hospital compound.

It added that forces are searching for hostages. The plight of the captives, who include men, women and children, has galvanized Israeli support for the war. Families and supporters of the hostages are holding a protest march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The raid drew condemnation from Jordan and the West Bank’s Palestinian Authority, which called it a violation of international law. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was “appalled” by the raid, saying the protection of civilians “must override all other concerns.”

At one point, tens of thousands of Palestinians seeking safety from Israeli bombardment were sheltering at the hospital, but most left in recent days as the fighting drew closer. The fate of premature babies at the hospital has drawn particular concern.

The Health Ministry said 40 patients, including three babies, have died since Shifa’s emergency generator ran out of fuel Saturday. Another 36 babies are at risk of dying because there is no power for incubators, according to the ministry.

Hours before Israel’s raid, the United States said its own intelligence indicated militants have used Shifa and other hospitals — and tunnels beneath them — to support military operations and hold hostages.

With its troops inside Shifa, the burden will shift to Israel to prove its claim that the facility was being used by militants and that it was a big enough military target to justify the siege against it.

Hospitals can lose their protected status if combatants use them for military purposes, but civilians must be given ample time to flee, and any attack must be proportional to the military objective.

A TRICKLE OF FUEL FOR AID WORKERS

About two thirds of the territory’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes — and most are now squeezed into the southern part of the narrow coastal strip.

Conditions there have been deteriorating, as bombardment continues to level buildings. Residents say bread is scarce and supermarket shelves are bare. Families cook on wood fires for lack of fuel. Central electricity and running water have been out for weeks across Gaza.

After refusing to allow fuel into Gaza since the war’s start, saying it would be diverted to Hamas, Israeli defense officials early Wednesday let in some 24,000 liters (6,340 gallons). The fuel will only be used for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, to continue bringing limited supplies of food and medicine from Egypt.

The agency is providing basic services to the more than 600,000 people sheltering in severely overcrowded U.N.-run schools and other facilities in the south.

The fuel cannot be used for hospitals in the south or to desalinate water, said Thomas White, UNRWA’s director in Gaza. The amount is equivalent of “only 9% of what we need daily to sustain lifesaving activities,” he said.

The Palestinian telecom company Paltel, meanwhile, said it was relying on batteries to keep Gaza’ mobile and internet network running, and that it expected services to halt later Wednesday. Gaza has experienced three previous mass communication outages since the ground invasion.

LOOKING SOUTH

Israeli troops have extended their control across northern Gaza. The military says Israeli forces took control of the Shati refugee camp, a densely built district, and are moving about freely in the city as a whole.

The military says its forces have found weapons and Hamas fighters in government buildings, schools and residential buildings. Israel says it has killed several thousand fighters while 46 of its own soldiers have been killed in Gaza.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday the ground operation will eventually “include both the north and south. We will strike Hamas wherever it is.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed the plans, saying Israel’s goal is “a complete victory over Hamas in the south and the return of our hostages.”

Israel told residents of northern Gaza to evacuate south, saying it wanted to get civilians out of the path of its ground assault, and hundreds of thousands fled. If Israeli troops move south, it is not clear where Gaza’s population can flee, with Egypt refusing a mass transfer onto its soil.

Magdy and Jeffery reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Wafaa Shurafa in Dair al-Balah, Gaza, and Amy Teibel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

They agreed to work together to curb the production of illicit fentanyl, resume military-to-military communications, engage in intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence and add direct flights between the two countries.

The outcome of Wednesday’s talks could have far-reaching implications for an anxious world that is grappling with global economic cross-currents from the pandemic, wars in the Middle East and Europe, upcoming elections in Taiwan and more. Follow live updates.

What is APEC anyway?

Biden’s goal for Xi meeting is to get U.S.-China communications back to normal

San Francisco hopes to rid its image of a city in decline as it hosts APEC

A fragile global economy is at stake as Biden and Xi meet

Biden welcomed leaders gathered for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference by noting that San Francisco is where “America reaches out all across the Pacific” and “a place where many left their hearts.”

The president was introduced by Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and followed a brief speech by California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is supporting Biden in 2024 but has made no secret about his own future presidential aspirations. Biden even referenced them, joking that the governor could do anything, including having “the job I’m looking for.”

Biden said he hoped the assembled leaders would “make new connections and spark new partnerships.” He noted that in the U.S., “Our workers are empowered and protected. Women and girls are full participants in every part of society.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, a native of nearby Oakland and a former California senator, said those gathering this week will “continue our work together to improve the human condition.”

After meeting with Xi for more than four hours, Biden headed to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference welcome reception that he is hosting with San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

The president and first lady Jill Biden were joining Xi and dozens of leaders at a reception at the Exploratorium, a museum of science, technology and arts in San Francisco.

The reception will feature a performance by pop star Gwen Stefani, as well as remarks by Biden and other leaders.

Before festivities began, the president participated in a photo line for dignitaries with California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Breed and several leading state Democrats and city officials.

Biden says he and Xi agreed to work together to better combat illegal fentanyl as well as reestablish military communications and tackle risks associated with artificial intelligence.

Biden met for more than four hours with Xi and talked at a news conference afterward about modest but potentially important agreements reached by both sides. He described how lethal fentanyl has been in the United States and said that miliary communications had “been cut off.”

“That’s been worrisome,” Biden said. “That’s how accidents happen.”

The president noted that he and Xi have known each other for years – and don’t always agree.

“I know the man. I know his modus operandi,” Biden said. “We have disagreements, but he’s been straight.”

But pressed on whether he trusted Xi, the president said he believed in trusting but verifying and conceded that China’s leader is a dictator.

“He is a dictator in a sense,” Biden said.

Biden says he believes Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza will only stop once the militant group’s ability to kill and injure Israelis is degraded, even as he said he was urging Israel to exercise caution as it carried out military operations in Gaza’s largest hospital.

Biden made the comments at a news conference Wednesday after meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative conference in California.

“I think it’s going to stop when Hamas no longer maintains the capacity to murder,” Biden said of the war, which was sparked by Hamas’s surprise Oct. 7 assault on Israel that killed at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Biden said he had discussed with the Israelis their need to “be incredibly careful” as they worked to clear Shifa Hospital, where Biden said he was absolutely confident in sharing Israel’s assessment that Hamas maintains a significant military presence intermixed with civilian infrastructure.

Biden maintained that “the only ultimate answer here is a two-state solution” with Israel and Palestinians living side by side.

Experts on China-U.S. relations say the agreements between Biden and Xi will have a significance in the future of the two countries’ relationship.

Zoe Liu, a fellow for China studies at the Council for Foreign Relations, said the agreements on fentanyl and military to military dialogues are “positive signs indicating both countries aim to put a floor to prevent the bilateral relationship from further deteriorating.”

But, Liu said, “these agreements will not change the structural challenges in the bilateral relations, but it paves the way for more detailed working-level discussions, which is more important.”

Zhang Yang, an assistant professor at American University’s School of International Service, said the visit is symbolically significant for Xi.

Zhang said Xi wants to make it clear that he’s the one who makes key decisions about Chinese foreign policy. But he also wants to signal to the Chinese people that Biden respects him and that he’s been handling the relationship well.

Biden and Xi’s meeting Wednesday was mostly business, but it wasn’t all serious.

The U.S. president took time to wish Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, a happy birthday, according to a senior Biden administration official. The two share a birthday, Nov. 20, which is coming up on Monday.

But it appears Xi needed some reminders. According to the official, the Chinese leader was a bit embarrassed and noted to Biden that he had been working so hard that he had forgotten his wife’s birthday was next week.

Biden and Xi engaged in other chitchat, sharing memories of the times they had met before, the U.S. official said.

Xi says he and Biden agreed to establish intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence, cooperate on counternarcotics, resume high-level military dialogue on the basis of equity and respect, and add direct flights between the two countries, among other topics.

The two leaders also stressed the urgency for the two countries to cope with the climate crisis, according to a statement released by the state broadcaster.

For China, the most important issues in Biden and Xi’s talks were Taiwan and the U.S. sanctions and restrictions against Chinese products and businesses, according to a statement released by China Central Television, the state broadcaster.

Xi urged the U.S. to stop arming Taiwan but support China’s peaceful unification with the self-governed island. Xi stressed the importance of the Taiwan issue, calling it “the most important and most sensitive issue” in the bilateral relations.

Xi also raised Beijing’s concerns over export controls, investment screenings and sanctions imposed by the U.S., which he said “have severely harmed China’s legitimate interests.”

“Suppressing China’s technology is to curb China’s high-quality development and depriving the development rights of the Chinese people,” Xi said. “We hope the U.S. side can seriously treat China’s concerns and take actions to remove unilateral sanctions and provide a fair, just, non-discriminatory environment for Chinese businesses.”

Biden and Xi have reached agreements on several key areas that include curbing the production of illicit fentanyl and resuming military-to-military communications, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The official said the most important agreement between the two leaders was on fentanyl because it will set Latin American drug dealers “back for a time.” The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.

The resumption of military communications means Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will speak with his Chinese counterpart once that person is named, as will senior U.S. military commanders with their counterparts, along with engagements at much lower levels, the official said.

Biden was “very clear” to Xi that such communications and dialogue between U.S. and China should be institutionalized and that they are “not done as a gift or as a favor to either side,” the official said.

— Associated Press reporter Aamer Madhani

After lunch, Biden after took a short walk on the property with Xi, winding along a brick path where the two leaders were able to get a good look at the hillside and property’s impressive topiary.

Asked by reporters how the meeting was going, Biden responded with a thumb’s up and said the talks were going well.

Biden is having a working lunch with Xi featuring such dishes as pilaf made from a style of rice popular in South Carolina.

The pair met for around two hours and 20 minutes, then took a break before beginning the meal.

More discussions are likely to come after lunch. In the meantime, though, neither side will go hungry.

According to the White House, the menu featured herbed ricotta ravioli, artichoke crisps, tarragon roasted heritage chicken, Carolina gold rice pilaf and charred broccolini and Brussels sprouts. Dessert consisted of almond meringue cake, praline buttercream and Concord grape sauce.

The White House says Biden and Xi finished their first round of talks after more than two hours. The expanded bilateral meeting, which concluded at 1:35 p.m. local time in California, included Biden, Xi and a dozen government officials for each country.

After a short break, the two sides reconvened for a working lunch at 2:07 p.m., the White House said. The lunch includes Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Xi is participating in the lunch with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and chief of staff Cai Qi.

To the domestic audience in China, Beijing continues to blame the U.S. for problems in the bilateral relations and urges Washington to “establish correct views” of China.

The official news service Xinhua said in a series of editorials that Washington should walk out of its “zero-sum” mentality and expand cooperation to further stabilize and improve bilateral relations.

Beijing has expressed hope that Washington would respond with “concrete actions.”

“We hope the positive attitudes as shown by the US in recent interactions are not political calculations and tactical opportunism,” Xinhua said in an editorial. “We hope the oral promises made will become concrete policies and actions.”

Ahead of the meeting between Biden and Xi, senior White House officials said Biden would walk away from the talks with major announcements expected on curbing the flow of chemicals used in the production of fentanyl and concrete steps to revive military-to-military communications.

The lush estate where Biden and Xi are meeting may look familiar to 1980s television fans or movie buffs fond of Michael Douglas.

Biden and Xi were speaking behind closed doors at the Filoli Historic House and Garden, which features a Georgian revival-style mansion and a formal, English Renaissance-style garden.

The retreat consist of 16 acres of formal gardens and is surrounded by a 654-acre estate. It is located in Woodside, California, about 25 miles south of San Francisco.

The property was built in 1917 as a private estate for the Bourn and Roth families, but has since become a National Trust for Historic Preservation site. It is normally open to the public, but a message at the top of the estate’s website currently reads, “Filoli is closed November 13-15 while we deck the halls for the Holidays!”

David Fincher’s 1997 mystery/thriller “The Game,” which starred Douglas, was filmed in part on the property. So was the multipart pilot for ABC’s primetime soap opera “Dynasty,” which aired from 1981 to 1989.

“I’m still of the view that major country competition is not the prevailing trend of current times and cannot solve the problems facing China and the United States or the world at large. Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed. And one country’s success is an opportunity for the other.” — Xi in remarks after shaking hands with Biden

Biden and Xi are stressing the need for their nations to strengthen mutual understanding while cautioning that their interests will sometimes conflict.

The pair opened their face-to-face meeting in the San Francisco Bay area with a solid handshake. Later, they sat at one long table together rather than at separate ones.

Even small details like floral arrangements were important for a meeting where protocol is of the utmost importance. Flowers on the table appeared to be evergreens.

Biden said the purpose of the meeting was to “understand each other.” He said, “As always, there’s no substitute to face-to-face discussions.” He added of Xi, “We’ve known each other for a long time. We haven’t always agreed.”

Biden also said that he wants “no misconceptions or miscommunications” and that the two leaders have to “ensure that competition doesn’t veer into conflict.”

Xi spoke of the need to strengthen cooperation to combat climate change but also condemned what he called rising “protectionism.”

Biden says the aim of the APEC summit is for leaders to “understand each other.” Xi says they bear “heavy responsibilities” for the world.

The two leaders made the comments Wednesday after shaking hands in their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year.

Biden and Xi have opened their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year with a solid handshake ahead of talks with far-reaching implications for a world grappling with economic cross currents, wars in the Middle East and Europe, tensions in Taiwan and more.

The two leaders, meeting at a bucolic country estate outside San Francisco, are looking to get communications back on track after a tumultuous year and to show the world that while they are global economic competitors, they’re not locked in a winner-take-all faceoff.

Since the two leaders last met, already fraught ties have been further strained by the U.S. downing of a Chinese spy balloon, differences on the self-ruled island of Taiwan, China’s hacking of a Biden official’s emails and other incidents.

A large crowd gathered in front of the Chinese consulate to condemn Xi has started marching toward Moscone Center, where main APEC events are being held.

They held signs reading “Free Hong Kong” and “Tibet belongs to Tibetans” and chanted “Free Tibet” and “Down with the CCP,” referring to the Chinese Communist Party. They started matching around 11 a.m. Wednesday local time.

Speakers implored the Biden administration to stand up to Xi and his human rights violations.

Ahead of the meeting between Biden and Xi, senior White House officials said Biden would walk away from the talks with major announcements expected on curbing the flow of chemicals used in the production of fentanyl and concrete steps to revive military to military communications.

One senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview aspects of the meeting, said Wednesday’s talks will stand out from the last time Biden and Xi spoke a year ago in Bali.

The official said there weren’t concrete agreements coming out of Bali, unlike what is expected on Wednesday.

— Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani

Ahead of the highly anticipated meeting on Wednesday between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Chinese state media have taken a new tone toward the U.S. with less negative coverage, calls for a return to warmer ties and stories of Americans with positive connections to the country.

The messaging follows several years of unprecedented tensions between the two countries over issues including trade and technology, the status of Taiwan and Hong Kong and the origins of COVID-19.

Chinese media have focused on a recent visit by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra marking the 50th anniversary of its history-making trip to China that helped build then-fledgling U.S.-China ties, and on another visit by members of the Flying Tigers, a group of American military pilots who helped China fight Japan in World War II.

“The Chinese people will never forget an old friend, and that’s an important message we want to send to the American people,” the official Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said in its overseas edition on Wednesday.

In recent days the official Xinhua news agency carried a five-part series on U.S.-China relations which called for the countries to “meet each other halfway” and “work together to return to the path of healthy and stable development.”

But it also urged the U.S. to follow through on agreements made by Biden and Xi when they met in Bali last November.

“Only if we return to Bali, can we look forward to San Francisco,” it said.

The two leaders agreed in Bali on areas of cooperation including tackling climate change and maintaining global financial, health and food stability. China says the U.S. has deviated from pledges to “not seek out a new Cold War,” to “respect China’s system” and “not oppose China through strengthening its relationships with allies.”

“Only by handling well U.S.-China relations can the well-being of the two peoples increase, the progress of human society be promoted, and can there be a contribution to the peaceful development of the world,” the People’s Daily said in an op-ed on Wednesday. Op-eds in state media are widely seen as reflections of official policy.

Even the nationalistic and confrontational Global Times newspaper called for the two countries to cooperate in an op-ed Wednesday.

Chinese state media have often focused heavily on negative coverage of the United States in recent years. During the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States in the summer of 2020, Chinese media provided extensive coverage of violence at protests and clashes with police.

The critical coverage of the U.S. and other Western countries aims to show how well China is doing in comparison, said David Bandurski, executive director of the independent China Media Project. “Everything is negative in the U.S. (according to Chinese media) … and this is the flip side of the bigger picture of the constructing of legitimacy by Xi Jinping in his third term,” he said.

During the coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests, relations between the countries were at a low point, with China defensive over U.S. accusations about the origin of COVID-19.

In one video on Douyin, the Chinese version of Tiktok, a young Chinese man living in San Francisco showed how he kept two bank cards in separate locations, one in his bag and one in his pocket. The point? “If I was robbed, I’d still have one bank card left,” he said.

He also showed his sneakers, saying if he ran into trouble, “I can run a bit faster.”

The new language of cooperation with the U.S. in state media mirrors what China has said in recent months as it has worked to mend strained relations with Australia and some European countries, Bandurski said.

Despite the change in tone, few expect substantial changes to the overall direction of relations between the two countries.

“There’s no fundamental change, they have marked you as a competitor,” said Sima Nan, an international affairs commentator with more than 3 million followers on Weibo, a popular social media app.

___

AP researcher Wanqing Chen in Beijing contributed to this report.