Chinese leader attend Trump’s inauguration?

China will send Vice President Han Zheng to the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday – the first time a senior Chinese leader will witness the swearing-in of a US president.

Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, among other leaders – a break with tradition, as foreign leaders traditionally do not attend US presidential inaugurations.

China has said it wants to work with the new US government to “find a suitable way for the two countries to adapt to each other in the new era”.

But it is preparing for a Trump presidency that will also include Beijing New tariffs on imports from China and more combative rhetoric—Secretary of State candidate Marco Rubio has described China as “the biggest and most advanced adversary America has ever had.”

As president, Xi 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 to such ceremonies elsewhere, but – Han attended the October 2023 inauguration of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. And his predecessor, Wang Qishan, attended the 2022 inauguration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Brazilian President Lula da Silva. in 2023

Xi’s decision to send Han to the US “is a sign that he wants to get Trump into deal-making mode, but (he) doesn’t want to be an actor in the January 20 Trump show,” says Neil Thomas. Fellow in Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Other foreign leaders who have been invited to the inauguration are Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told US media that the invitation to Xi was “an example of Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not our allies,” rivals and competitors.

It could also be Trump’s attempt to show the world “that he has Xi’s decision-making ability and that they have a special relationship,” says Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington.

Earlier reports suggested that some Trump advisers wanted Cai Qi to attend. Widely seen as Xi’s right-hand man, Cai, 66, is part of the seven-member Standing Committee of the Communist Party’s Politburo, China’s equivalent of a cabinet.

The Financial Times quoted an unnamed person as saying that Trump would be “happy” if the Chinese envoy in attendance was “only at the level of Han or (Foreign Minister) Wang Yi.” The BBC was unable to verify these claims.

But as vice president, the 70-year-old Han plays “a very central role in the Chinese state system” and the decision to send him “gives Trump a courtesy,” says Chong Ja-Ian, a non-resident Carnegie fellow. China

Han, who was named vice president in March 2023, is known as “number eight,” the most senior leader after the seven men on the Politburo Standing Committee.

He remained a member there until October 2022, when Xi began his historic third term in power and appointed his most trusted deputies to the above jobs.

Han previously spent most of his political career in Shanghai, where he was born. In 2007, he was an aide to Xi when the latter was party secretary in Shanghai, before he took office in 2012.

Foreign affairs have been a key focus of his vice-presidency. He led a team to promote the Belt and Road Initiative – China’s key trade and infrastructure project – and chaired the steering committee for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

But Han’s absence from the Politburo Standing Committee could be a key factor in Beijing’s decision to send him.

“If relations between the US and China deteriorate from the perspective of the party, they will be able to show that Xi and the party kept some distance from Trump,” Professor Chong said.

And it also helps not to be part of Han Xi’s inner circle, according to Mr Thomas.

“Xi trusts Han enough to undertake this mission, but Han is not a key ally and could be blamed if it goes horribly wrong.”

Additional reporting by BBC Monitoring’s Ian Tang