Becerra downplayed China’s abuses as a ‘different perspective’ on human rights

By Nicholas Rowan

Published March 3, 2021 7:12pm ET

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Becerra downplayed China’s abuses as a ‘different perspective’ on human rights — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, left, flanked by McGregor Scott, right, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California, discusses an increase in the use of a banned pesticide at illegal marijuana farms hidden on public lands Tuesday, May 29, 2018, in Sacramento, California. | (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

President Biden’s pick to lead his Health and Human Services Department once downplayed China’s human rights abuses amid a push to expand trade with the communist country.

As a California congressman in 1997, Xavier Becerra helped lead a delegation of more than 20 House members on an economic mission to China. The trip came on the heels of a 1996 tour of Cuba where Becerra met with strongman Fidel Castro, a decision that provoked controversy among Cuban-American lawmakers.

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Bill Clinton California China Trade Xavier Becerra