SEATTLE (AP) — The latest developments in Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States. All times local:
2:12 p.m.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will dine on cuisine from the Pacific Northwest during a banquet in his honor in Seattle.
The menu says Tuesday evening's meal includes "Duo of Pan seared Double R Ranch Washington Beef & NW Steelhead." The wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay, come from Washington state winery Chauteau Ste. Michelle.
Guests at the dinner will include former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Penny Pritzker, President Barack Obama's commerce secretary, as well as the governors of Washington state, Michigan, California and Iowa.
Xi was to deliver a policy speech following the meal.10:55 a.m.
Hundreds of protesters are banging drums, crashing cymbals and holding banners in Chinese and English in downtown Seattle as Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the city as part of a trip to the U.S.
Many protesters who turned out Tuesday are affiliated with the religious group Falun Gong, which says it is persecuted in China.
Sabrina Chang of San Francisco said the demonstrators want to let Xi know the issue is about compassion and tolerance.
Some protesters are carrying signs that read, "Stop Forced Live Organ Harvesting."
Last year, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed a resolution calling on China to immediately end what it calls state-sanctioned harvesting of human organs from prisoners.
At the time, China said the panel was making false and irresponsible accusations.Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Washington state to begin his first official visit to the U.S.
Xi's plane, an Air China Boeing 747, landed Tuesday at Paine Field in Everett about 30 miles north of Seattle.
He was greeted by a group that included Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, former Washington governor and U.S. ambassador to China Gary Locke and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.
Xi will spend his first day in the U.S. in a Seattle hotel, where talks between five U.S. governors and six of their Chinese counterparts will take place over issues that include improving energy efficiency in buildings, modernizing electrical grids and commercializing renewable energy.
He was also to deliver a policy speech Tuesday evening.
Xi on Wednesday is set to tour Boeing's large airplane production plant in Everett and travel to Microsoft's headquarters.
He leaves the Seattle area on Thursday for a White House state dinner on Friday.
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8:17 a.m.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is kicking off his U.S. trip with a visit to the Seattle area, and commuters are warned to expect gridlock.
Xi is scheduled to arrive in Washington state on Tuesday morning. Transportation officials are urging people to avoid driving to downtown Seattle, where dozens of government and business leaders will convene Tuesday and Wednesday.
Xi's itinerary Wednesday will take him throughout the metro area: Boeing's campus in Everett, north of Seattle, to Microsoft east of the city and to a high school in Tacoma in the southern Puget Sound.
Authorities say his police-escorted motorcade will mean traffic slowdowns.Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has said the city is honored to host President Xi but asked residents "be patient, re-evaluate their commute plans, add in extra travel time, and monitor traffic alerts
AP
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