January 16, 2025, 5:46 p. m.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng attend a meeting with Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Florence Lo/Pool Photo via AP)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(Florence Lo/AP Pool Photo)
By press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, but he is sending Vice President Han Zheng as his special representative.
The decision, announced on Friday in China through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comes more than a month after Trump extended the invitation to the XI, a break with tradition, because no head of state in the past made an official stop in USA. for the inauguration.
“We are willing to paint with the new management of the USA. Get along, “said the ministry spokesman when the resolution was announced.
Other foreign leaders have spoken about being invited to Trump’s inauguration, including Argentinian President Javier Milei and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. The offices of Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña have also said they were invited and were planning to attend.
Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, said the move by Xi means “China is willing to forego protocol and cater to what Trump wants.”
“This indicates that China is in a position to talk, negotiate and make efforts to reach agreements successfully,” Sun wrote.
Han’s dispatch comes as rivalry between the United States and China is expected to escalate. Several of Trump’s nominees for key Cabinet posts are well-known China hawks, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, nominated as secretary of state. Rubio called China “the ultimate power. ” “The closest, most damaging, most proximate adversary this country has ever faced” at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, when members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suggested Rubio make fighting China a top and sensible priority.
Beijing prefers leader-level talks, which it believes could help guide the bilateral relations, while Trump likes to deal with world leaders directly.
As president, Xi trained for state visits and summits. But he did not attend the coronation of King Charles III, and did not go to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II or the memorial service for Nelson Mandela. Instead, he sent vice presidents. Han was his special representative for the coronation of King Charles III. When Trump invited Xi to the inauguration in December, it was widely believed that Xi was unlikely to come.
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Associated Press editor Adriana Gomez Licon of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.