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Article snippet: BEIJING — Gov. is already battling to succeed him. But instead, Mr. Brown was in China on Tuesday, emerging as a de facto envoy from the United States on Xi Jinping of China met with Mr. Brown, at the governor’s request, at the very moment China prepares to take a more commanding role in fighting climate change. “California’s leading, China’s leading,” Mr. Brown said at a wide-ranging and at times feisty news conference after he met with Mr. Xi. “It’s true I didn’t come to Washington, I came to Beijing. Well, someday I’m going to go to Washington, but not this week.” Mr. Brown has long used his platform as governor to advocate emission reduction policies, both in his state and globally. But the decision by Mr. Trump to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, on the eve of Mr. Brown’s trip here, gave an already planned visit new visibility. The son of a governor, Mr. Brown has been in public office — or running for public office — nearly every year since he was elected secretary of state in 1970. This is the second time he has served as governor. He ran for president three times. He has been mayor of Oakland, the chairman of the California Democratic Party and the state’s attorney general. But the election of Mr. Trump, and his decision to pull out of the climate accord last week, suggests that Mr. Brown’s likely final act in public life is going to be much different than he ever imagined. Instead of fighting, to name one example, for the high-speed rail line b... Link to the full article to read more