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US President-elect Donald Trump has invited President Xi Jinping to his inauguration ceremony in January, signaling his intention to resume high-level engagement with the Chinese leader that was a hallmark of his first term.
Incoming White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told Fox News on Thursday that President Trump wants to build “open dialogue” not only with allies and partners, but also with America’s adversaries.
“We saw this in his first term. He got a lot of criticism for that, but it led to peace in this world. He was willing to talk to anyone and He will always put America’s interests first,” Levitt said.
Mr. Levitt said it was “undecided” whether Mr. Xi would accept the invitation. The Chinese embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
The invitation comes as China prepares for an escalation in the trade war that President Trump waged against China in 2018. The next U.S. president has already threatened to impose a 60% tariff on imports from China; The taxes he levied on the goods of the country during his first term.
President Trump takes office as U.S.-China relations near their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979.
The United States is concerned about China’s military activities around Taiwan and its coercive activities against countries such as the Philippines in the Indo-Pacific region. China, meanwhile, accuses the United States of interfering in its internal affairs over Taiwan and is angry at U.S. export controls aimed at making it harder for the Chinese military to use American technology for modernization.
President Trump has also selected several highly hawkish government officials for top national security positions. He said he plans to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio, one of the most vocal China hawks in Congress, to be secretary of state, and has named Mike Walz, a Florida congressman and former Green Beret, to the White House national security post. He stated that he intends to appoint him as assistant secretary for security.
Trump had a complicated relationship with China during his first term. He courted Mr Xi in 2017 and launched a trade war the following year. But he took a tough stance on economic and security issues, blaming the Chinese government for the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan in 2020.
Chinese officials have been scrambling in recent months to figure out what Trump wants to accomplish with a deal with China and whether he wants to push for any deal with Xi that includes trade. People close to the Trump campaign said they expected the president-elect to take a tough stance on trade issues early in his administration in an effort to bring China to the negotiating table.
