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China’s President Xi Jinping will ship a high-level envoy to Donald Trump’s inauguration, in an unprecedented transfer designed to cut back friction between the nations firstly of the brand new US administration.
Beijing advised Trump’s transition staff that the highest official would attend as an alternative of Xi, in keeping with a number of folks accustomed to the talks. The envoy would additionally maintain talks with Trump’s staff, a number of folks stated.
Trump prolonged an uncommon invitation to Xi to attend his inauguration on January 20 in an indication that he supposed to renew the form of high-level engagement with the Chinese language chief that he performed throughout his first time period within the White Home.
Beijing is determined to ease friction with Washington because it braces for a potential critical escalation in commerce tensions. Chinese language officers struggled to satisfy Trump advisers within the run-up to November’s US election, elevating concern in Beijing that they’d be unprepared for any shift on China.
A number of folks stated Xi may ship Han Zheng, a vice-president who typically stands in for him in ceremonial roles. Another choice is overseas minister Wang Yi.
One particular person accustomed to the scenario stated some Trump advisers wished Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who wields far more energy than Han or Wang in his capability as Xi’s right-hand man.
One other particular person accustomed to the views contained in the transition staff stated there was some concern that Trump could be sad if the envoy was solely on the stage of Wang or Han provided that he had invited the Chinese language chief.
“The Chinese language must ship the suitable stage of official to start out the connection off on the fitting foot,” the particular person stated.
Wang wouldn’t be seen as sufficiently high-level as a result of he ranked under Cai and Han and was a profession diplomat, stated one China knowledgeable.
The Chinese language embassy in Washington didn’t remark. The Trump staff didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The attendance of any of the officers could be unprecedented, given China has beforehand been represented by its ambassador in Washington.
“Trump might be deemed too unpredictable for Xi to take the home danger of attending in particular person,” stated Dennis Wilder, a former prime White Home China adviser. “By sending a particular envoy of serious stature to get conferences with Trump and his cupboard, Xi can display that he needs to get off on the fitting foot with the Trump administration with out risking that he may return house empty-handed or publicly embarrassed.”
A number of folks stated that past the ceremonial component, the Chinese language envoy would additionally maintain substantive discussions with the brand new Trump staff.
Beijing is bracing for turbulence with Washington, notably after Trump named a sequence of China hawks to prime nationwide safety positions.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s incoming nationwide safety adviser, and his deputy Alex Wong are each seen as being very robust on China. Trump has additionally named Republican US Senator Marco Rubio, one Congress’s most vocal China hawks, to be his secretary of state.
Trump stated this week that his staff was already involved with Beijing. “We’ve been speaking via their representatives,” Trump stated in an interview with the Hugh Hewitt radio present, when he additionally blamed China for the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
