Despite his history of harsh rhetoric and tariff threats, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has extended an invitation to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to attend his January inauguration ceremony.
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s new press secretary, confirmed the invitation on Fox News, a conservative television network, on Thursday. She presented the offer as an attempt to improve relations between the two nations, which have historically been viewed as adversaries. “This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too,” Leavitt told the programme Fox & Friends.
Experts say that it would be unprecedented for a Chinese leader to attend a US presidential inauguration, given the frosty relations that have persisted between the two countries for decades. “This is diplomatic theater, nothing more. Other heads of state, let alone Xi Jinping, haven’t attended US presidential inaugurations,” Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the news agency Reuters. Experts say Xi is unlikely to accept the invitation. When asked at a briefing about Trump’s invitation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded: “I have nothing to share at present.”
But the symbolism behind his appearance at Trump’s second inauguration would likely be fraught. Danny Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told The Associated Press that Xi’s attendance – if he accepts – could be construed as the Chinese president “celebrating the triumph of a foreign leader”.
“Can you imagine Xi Jinping sitting outdoors in Washington, DC, in January at the feet of the podium, surrounded by hawkish members of Congress, gazing up at Donald Trump as he delivers his inaugural address?” asked Russel. Xi and Trump have also butted heads in the past. During Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021, he initiated a trade war with China that saw the two countries impose tariffs on each other’s imports.
In 2019, the United Nations Trade and Development organisation issued a report warning that the trade war was “economically hurting both countries”. Experts have also warned that the cost of tariffs is often offset onto consumers. Trump also exchanged a war of words with Xi’s government during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he called the “China virus”. He demanded China be held accountable for its spread. China, for its part, condemned Trump’s accusations as “baseless” and called his rhetoric stigmatising.A second Trump term may spark further tensions with China. Already, he has pledged to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods if more is not done to curb the trade of the synthetic drug fentanyl.
And his incoming administration is stacked with several notable foreign policy hawks, including Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, who has accused China of deploying “theft” and “predatory tactics” to strengthen its economy. China sanctioned Rubio in 2020. The current administration of US President Joe Biden has also left some tariffs from Trump’s first term largely in place and taken aggressive steps meant to hobble China’s tech sector.
Source: Here