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Chinese President Xi Jinping will send a high-level envoy to President Donald Trump’s inauguration in an unprecedented move aimed at reducing friction between the two countries as the new US administration takes office.
The Chinese government told President Trump’s transition team that a senior official will attend in Xi’s place, according to people familiar with the talks. The envoy will also meet with Trump’s team, people said.
President Trump unusually invited Xi to his inauguration ceremony on January 20, signaling his intention to resume high-level engagement with the Chinese leader as he did during his first term in the White House.
The Chinese government is bracing for the possibility of a serious escalation in trade tensions and is scrambling to ease tensions with the United States. Chinese officials are struggling to meet with Trump aides ahead of the US presidential election in November, raising concerns in China that the country is unprepared for any changes. There is.
Sources said Mr. Xi may send his vice president, Han Zheng, who sometimes acts as his deputy in a ceremonial role. Another option is Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Some Trump advisers are considering appointing Tsai Qi, a Politburo Standing Committee member who wields far more power than Han or Wang, as Xi’s right-hand man, one person familiar with the matter said. He says he wants it.
Another person familiar with internal thinking on the transition team said there were concerns that Mr. Trump would be dissatisfied if the envoy remained at the level of Mr. Wang and Mr. Han, given the invitation to the Chinese leader. He said there was.
“China needs to send officials at the appropriate level to get relations off to a good start,” the official said.
One China expert said Mr. Wang was ranked below Ms. Tsai and Ms. Han and was probably not considered high enough because he had a career as a diplomat.
The Chinese embassy in Washington had no comment. The Trump team did not respond to requests for comment.
The official’s attendance is unprecedented, given that China has previously been represented in Washington by its ambassador.
“Trump will probably be seen as too unpredictable to take the domestic risk of President Xi Jinping attending in person,” said Dennis Wilder, a former White House China chief of staff. “By sending a high-profile envoy to meet with President Trump and his Cabinet, Mr. Xi can build a good relationship with the Trump administration without risking returning home empty-handed or being publicly embarrassed. You can show what you want.”
Sources said the Chinese envoy would go beyond ceremonial elements and also hold substantive discussions with Trump’s new team.
Beijing is bracing for turmoil with the United States, especially after President Trump nominated a series of Chinese hawks to lead national security.
Both President Trump’s incoming National Security Adviser Mike Walz and Vice Presidential Advisor Alex Wong are seen as extremely tough on China. President Trump also nominated Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, one of the most vocal anti-China hawks in Congress, to be secretary of state.
President Trump said this week that his team was already in contact with the Chinese government. “We’ve been talking through their representatives,” Trump said in an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, also blaming China for the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
