HONOLULU (AP) – President Barack Obama is expected to join Chinese leader Xi Jinping in announcing their countries are formally joining a historic global climate deal as Obama opens his final trip to Asia.
Yet thornier issues like maritime disputes and cybersecurity shadow Obama’s visit.
The president was to depart Friday for Hangzhou, China, from Hawaii, where he made a brief stopover after visiting remote Midway Atoll the day before. In China Saturday, Obama plans to sit down with Xi for talks before the Group of 20 major economies summit kicks off Sunday.
Environmental groups and experts tracking global climate policy say they expect the two leaders will use the visit to jointly enter the sweeping emissions-cutting deal reached last year in Paris. That would move the deal closer to taking effect.