Will China’s Leader Attend Trump’s Inauguration?

China is sending Vice President Han Zheng to the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping along with other leaders – a departure from the tradition of foreign leaders not typically attending US presidential inaugurations.

China said it wants to work with the new US administration to “find the right way for the two countries to get along in the new era”.

But Beijing is also preparing for Trump’s presidency, which is expected to be included New tariffs on Chinese-made products And more belligerent rhetoric — Secretary of State candidate Marco Rubio has described China as “the greatest and most formidable enemy America has ever faced.”

As President Xi, he has never attended an inauguration or coronation ceremony, opting instead to send a representative. China’s ambassador to the US attended the last two presidential inaugurations in 2017 and 2021.

Beijing has sent vice presidents elsewhere, though – Han attended the October 2023 inauguration of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. And his predecessor, Wang Qishan, attended the inauguration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2022 and Brazil’s President Lula da Silva in 2023.

Xi’s decision to send him to the U.S. “is a sign that he wants to get Trump into a deal-making situation, but[he]doesn’t want to be a supporting actor on Trump’s show on Jan. 20,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow in China politics at the Asia Community Policy Institute.

Other foreign leaders invited to the inauguration included Argentine President Javier Millei and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Trump’s spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt told US media that the invitation to Xi was “an example of how Trump can have an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies, but our enemies and competitors.”

Yun San, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said: “It could be an attempt by Trump to show the world that they have the ability to influence Xi’s decision-making and that they have a special relationship.

Earlier reports indicated that some Trump advisers wanted Cai Qi to attend. Cai, 66, widely seen as Xi’s right-hand man, sits on the Communist Party’s seven-man Politburo Standing Committee.

The Financial Times quoted an unnamed insider as saying Trump would be unhappy if the Chinese delegation attending the meeting was “only at the level of Han or[Foreign Minister]Wang Yi.” The BBC has been unable to confirm these claims.

But as vice president, Han, 70, has “a very senior role in the Chinese state system” and the decision to send him “fits well with Trump,” said Chong Jae-in, a non-resident scholar at Carnegie. China.

Appointed vice president in March 2023, Han is known as “Number Eight” – the highest-ranking leader among the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee.

Han remained a member until October 2022, when Xi began his historic third term. He appointed the most trusted deputies to higher jobs.

Before that, Han spent most of his political career in Shanghai, where he was born. In the year In 2007, he served as an aide to Xi when the latter was Party Secretary of Shanghai, and later in 2010.

During his tenure as Vice President, foreign affairs became a key focus for him. He chaired the Belt and Road Initiative – China’s key trade and infrastructure project – and the steering committee for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

But the fact that Han no longer sits on the Politburo Standing Committee may have weighed heavily on Beijing’s decision to send him.

“If US-China relations take a turn for the worse from the party’s point of view, it could show that Xi and the party have some distance from Trump,” Professor Chong said.

And it also helps prevent Han from being seen as part of Xi’s inner circle, Mr. Thomas said.

“Zi trusts Han enough to carry out this mission, but Han is not a key ally and can safely be blamed if it goes horribly wrong.”

Further reporting by BBC Monitor Ian Tang