China's Envoy Urges Australia to Resist US Pressure on Military Spending
Ambassador Xiao Qian, in an opinion article published in The Australian newspaper Monday, wrote that both Australia and China rely on the same trade routes and have a major stake in safeguarding maritime security. He emphasized their roles as key trade partners with 'highly complementary' economies.
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Although their stories, their electoral prospects and their voting patterns are different, Tillis' decision to retire at an age where many legislators are just getting started, mirrors that of another former North Carolina member of Congress, Patrick McHenry. Like Tillis, McHenry had served in the North Carolina General Assembly before ascending to federal office. Although his voting record in the U.S. House shows a little less moderation than Tillis', McHenry, too, was seen as someone who was, on occasion, willing to making a deal. Like Tillis, McHenry also announced his retirement at the height of his power in 2023 — soon after serving as interim House Speaker and being credited for keeping 'the House together' at an especially fractious time. And like Tillis, McHenry didn't retire because he was forced out, or beset by scandal; he retired because he wanted to. Just before his retirement, McHenry noted that Congress is 'at a low ebb of functionality.' Serving in the modern GOP in Congress, he said, is akin to 'going upstream from the traffic.' Although McHenry characterized his decision as a 'completely personal thing,' there's something telling about the fact that arguably the two most powerful national elected officials from the state in decades, both at the top of their game, chose to retire not at the behest of the voters, but rather on their own volition and on their own terms. Congressional service isn't what it used to be. Even in a purple state.
