Xi To Send Top Chinese Official to Trump’s Inauguration

Chinese President Xi Jinping is dispatching a high-ranking official to the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, in lieu of Ambassador Xie Feng, in a move that breaks tradition.

Newsweek has reached out to the Trump team and Chinese Foreign Ministry by email with requests for comment.

Why It Matters

Xi’s move suggests an eagerness to lower tensions early in Trump’s second term in the White House. Washington and Beijing remain at loggerheads over a range of contentious issues, from trade and Beijing’s aggression toward Taiwan to Chinese economic and political support for Russia amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to significantly raise tariffs on imported Chinese goods, a move that would further escalate the trade war that began during his first term and Beijing warns could harm bilateral ties and hit American consumers in the pocketbook.

What To Know

Though it was considered unlikely Xi himself would attend, the president-elect did extend him an invitation, along with a number of other heads of state. It is uncommon for any world leaders to attend the inauguration.

“This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too,” Trump spokesperson and incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Fox News interview last month.

Chinese officials told Trump’s transition team that a top official would attend the inauguration instead of what is usually the Chinese ambassador, the Financial Times cited people familiar with the discussion as saying.

The official’s identity was not mentioned, but sources suggested the names of Vice President Han Zheng, who occasionally represents Xi at official functions, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi as potential candidates.

One source with knowledge of the talks said some of Trump’s advisers had hoped Cai Qi, an official with more seniority than Han and member of the Chinese Communist Party’s top decision-making body, could attend.

What People Are Saying

Dennis Wilder, former director for China on the White House’s National Security Council: “Trump is probably deemed too unpredictable for Xi to take the domestic risk of attending in person,” he told the Financial Times.

“By sending a special envoy of significant stature to get meetings with Trump and his cabinet, Xi can demonstrate that he wishes to get off on the right foot with the Trump administration without risking that he could return home empty-handed or publicly embarrassed.”

What’s Next?

Trump will be sworn in as the 47th American president at the Capitol at noon on January 21.