Biden warns Xi on Taiwan, reaffirms he doesn’t back independence
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against military action to reunify Taiwan with the mainland but said he doesn’t support a formal declaration of independence by the island, in the first conversation between the two leaders since March.
Xi told Biden that it’s the will of the Chinese people to “resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity” regarding Taiwan and that “whoever plays with fire will get burnt,” according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, repeating a warning he’s used in past calls with the U.S. president.
Biden said that the U.S. “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” according to a White House statement released after the Chinese readout.
Biden reiterated support for the United States' “One China” policy, which recognizes only Beijing as the government of China and not Taipei, according to the Chinese foreign ministry’s statement. Beijing’s statement pointedly did not call the conversation “constructive,” a term the ministry has used after previous calls between the men.
—Bloomberg News
San Francisco officials declare state of emergency as monkeypox spreads
San Francisco officials declared a state of emergency Thursday as the number of monkeypox cases hit 281 and continued to spread across the city.
Mayor London Breed and the city’s Department of Public Heath made the declaration, which will allow officials to mobilize additional resources and to accelerate funding and emergency planning to combat the outbreak of the virus that is spreading almost exclusively among gay and bisexual men and transgender and nonbinary people.
LGBTQ activists and health leaders have been sounding the alarm about monkeypox for weeks, saying they were inadequately prepared and overlooked by public health officials. Now, many state and local officials are joining the call for a better response to the outbreak — especially, efforts to get more vaccines.
As of Wednesday, the city health department reported 39 more monkeypox cases, including probable cases and those identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 281.
—Los Angeles Times
'A historic milestone': Alaska formally recognizes Native tribes
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday signed a bill recognizing Alaska's Native tribes, in a formal acknowledgment of tribes' sovereignty by the state.
The bill signing event was held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, where a large and emotional crowd included tribal leaders, state lawmakers and candidates running for elected office.
The measure sponsored by Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky, a Bethel Democrat, passed the Legislature in May with bipartisan support. Zulkosky, who is Yup'ik, on Thursday called the bill "a historic milestone" in advancing state-tribal relations. The bill, she said, is "a statutory recognition of a simple truth — that tribes exist in Alaska."
Alaska Federation of Natives President Julie Kitka said in a statement ahead of the bill signing that for the more than 220 federally recognized tribes in Alaska, the bill will mark "a step toward building a stronger relationship with our state government."
—Anchorage Daily News
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán denounces mixing races ahead of Dallas CPAC appearance
DALLAS — During a speech in Romania over the weekend, Hungary’s far-right leader Viktor Orbán said he doesn’t want Europeans mixing with people from outside the continent — comments one of his aides compared to Third Reich rhetoric before resigning.
“This is why we have always fought: We are willing to mix with one another, but we do not want to become peoples of mixed race,” said Orbán, who is scheduled to speak in Dallas next week at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Orban also appeared to make light of the Holocaust while discussing plans to reduce natural gas demand in Europe: “I do not see how it will be enforced — although, as I understand it, the past shows us German know-how on that,” he said. More than 6 million Jews, along with 6 million other minorities deemed by Nazi Germany as “undesirable,” were systemically murdered during the Holocaust.
Orbán’s comments were immediately criticized by Holocaust survivors, Jewish groups and even members of his own inner circle. One of his aides, Zsuzsa Hegedus, resigned from her position after Orban’s speech, calling his comments “pure Nazi text,” while comparing Orbán to Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.
—The Dallas Morning News
