\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-2159615350-e1719918885936.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
After President Joe Biden\u2019s catastrophic debate<\/a> performance, Gavin Newsom<\/a> has emerged among a handful of names being floated to replace him. In China, that would be a popular outcome.<\/p>\n Since Biden stumbled against Donald Trump last week, Chinese social media users have posted photos and video clips of the California state governor, who was a hit during his visit to the world\u2019s No. 2 economy last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n One\u00a0clip<\/a>\u00a0of Newsom reaffirming his support for Biden as the Democratic nominee was viewed 80,000 times on China\u2019s X-like Weibo platform. Underneath, users said the governor had a \u201cpresidential temperament\u201d and \u201cthe perfect resume\u201d for the top job.\u00a0<\/p>\n Blogger Zheng Jun, whose account has some 3\u00a0million<\/a>\u00a0followers on the site, wrote the governor was \u201cthe most prepared to step up when the opportunity comes along.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, it\u2019s unclear if that moment will arrive anytime soon. Biden has vowed to remain the Democratic nominee in the November vote, even as calls\u00a0grow<\/a>\u00a0within his party for a replacement.<\/p>\n President Xi Jinping gave Newsom an audience in Beijing last October, in his first meeting with a US state governor in six years. During that weeklong trip, the Democrat hailed China\u2019s success as a boon for the rest of the\u00a0world<\/a>, as he pushed for progress between the two sides on climate change.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNewsom represents a fresh but also positive and more sober-minded politician in the US,\u201d said Henry Wang, founder of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based think tank. \u201cHe could be a cool head among this anti-China US consensus.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Newsom understands the benefits of business ties to China better than other American politicians because of California\u2019s large economy and its Chinese-American population, Wang added.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s visit to China came at a fraught time in bilateral relations, with the two nations at odds over Beijing\u2019s territorial claims on self-ruled Taiwan and Biden\u2019s curbs on the Asian nation\u2019s access to cutting-edge chips. He managed to find common ground by focusing on areas of cooperation.<\/p>\n The American stuck to climate change and state-level initiatives during the Hong Kong leg of his trip \u2014 despite\u00a0calls<\/a>\u00a0from US senators to condemn Beijing\u2019s repression of human rights in the city. Local officials appreciated that a US politician came with a positive message, according to a person familiar with the matter who didn\u2019t want to speak publicly. \u00a0<\/p>\n In the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, Newsom was photographed giving a thumbs up inside a BYD Co. car, a sector that\u2019s become a major source of tension in bilateral relations. Biden announced 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in\u00a0May<\/a>, as US officials accuse Beijing of flooding the world with a surge in cheap exports.<\/p>\n Chinese media showered Newsom\u2019s visit with praise, with the ruling Communist Party\u2019s Global Times newspaper citing experts who\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0it a \u201cresounding success.\u201d Another state-backed outlet said the prominent Democrat was a \u201cmodel<\/a>\u201d in promoting US-China ties, during a trip that raised his profile overseas.<\/p>\n The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported.<\/p>\n That stands in contrast to the criticism reserved for a flurry of Biden administration officials who have visited Beijing to steady ties over the past year. The Global Times\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u2019s visit to China in June 2023 \u201cinsufficient,\u201d and noted he wasn\u2019t given a red carpet on arrival in Beijing.<\/p>\n Newsom, 56, also attracted attention in China for\u00a0joining<\/a>\u00a0a group of schoolchildren in Beijing for a basketball game, displaying his vitality as Biden, 81, faces growing scrutiny over his health.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, some Chinese citizens expressed concern online after the debate that Newsom also had political weak spots. His West coast background was perceived by some as a potential problem \u2014 California has never produced a Democratic president. Others said it would be better for him to run in 2028, rather than \u201csacrifice\u201d himself this year.<\/p>\n Overall, the idea of a candidate who isn\u2019t threatening huge trade tariffs on China, and had displayed a positive attitude toward Beijing, was appealing to many in the Asian nation.<\/p>\n \u201cI made the point that I\u2019m here with an open hand, not a closed fist,\u201d Newsom\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0last year. \u201cI\u2019m mindful of the strategic red lines in our relationship, but I\u2019m also mindful that we\u2019re more than capable of managing them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n