By Chun Han Wong
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is sending his deputy head of state to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, signaling Beijing's willingness to engage the new administration and stabilize rocky ties with the U.S.
Han Zheng, China's vice president, will be traveling to Washington as Xi's special representative at the inauguration, state media reported Friday, citing a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
A former member of the Communist Party's top decision-making body, Han stands to be the most senior delegate that China has sent to witness the swearing-in of an American president. Washington has typically invited ambassadors and other lower-level dignitaries to such ceremonies but Trump broke with precedent by extending an invitation to Xi this time.
"We are willing to work with the new U.S. government to strengthen dialogue and communication," to properly manage differences and expand cooperation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, according to state media.
Beijing hopes to "find the right way for China and the U.S. to get along in the new period," the spokesperson said.
The announcement confirmed that Xi is demurring on Trump's invitation to attend the Jan. 20 ceremony, a decision reported by The Wall Street Journal last month.
It would have been unusual for the leader of any nation to personally attend a U.S. presidential inauguration. Xi would have faced political risks by attending himself, particularly after Trump said he would impose additional tariffs on China from the first day of his second term as president.
In light of such concerns, some experts on Chinese diplomacy said that sending Han was the most positive response that Xi could realistically have made to Trump's invitation.
"Although the vice president's role may not hold significant political power, his presence still matters as a trusted envoy of Xi," said Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University who studies China's foreign policy. "Han certainly will be able to play the role of an interlocutor and a channel of communication."
Beijing is likely to follow up on Han's trip by looking to arrange high-level meetings with the Trump administration, such as discussions between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his American counterparts, Loh said.
One person close to Trump's decision to invite Xi said that while Trump wants competition with China he also values the relationship with the Chinese leader, the Journal previously reported. Xi was considering sending a senior lieutenant to the ceremony as a way to help gain access to the next White House, the Journal reported.
Beijing has been trying to reach out to the Trump team, in part to ascertain whether the new administration plans to use tariffs as a way to negotiate a trade deal with Beijing or to move the U.S. economy further away from China's.
Such attempts to build back channels have been rebuffed so far. Former and current Chinese officials including China's former ambassador to Washington, Cui Tiankai, who built connections with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, during the first Trump presidency, have had limited success in getting through to Trump's inner circle.
As president-elect, Trump said that he would place tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China on the first day of his second term if the countries don't halt the flow of migrants and drugs into the U.S.
Xi, for his part, has signaled that Beijing would retaliate should Trump follow through on his threats. In his congratulatory message to Trump after his election victory in November, Xi said, "History tells us that both countries stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation."
China has since brandished some of the tools that it could use to hit back at the U.S. in the event of a new trade war. These measures include potentially choking off the metals needed to produce everyday products and punishing American companies that do business in China.
In December, Beijing tightened controls on exports of raw materials used in the manufacture of advanced electronics and batteries and in other high-tech fields, and announced an antitrust probe of Nvidia, the U.S. chip maker.
Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 17, 2025 03:59 ET (08:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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