China’s ambassador to the US has been scrambling to attach with potential Trump administration officers after a number of years of struggling to get conferences with Republicans in Washington.
Xie Feng has in latest months stepped up outreach in Washington by internet hosting dozens of former US officers and China specialists at his residence, based on individuals aware of the scenario.
The engagements have develop into extra necessary following Donald Trump’s election victory as a result of the Chinese language embassy has had way more interplay with Democrats throughout Joe Biden’s presidency.
Evan Medeiros, a former high White Home Asia official, mentioned Trump’s victory caught China “flat footed”.
“They were scrambling around Washington and New York to find connections to Trump. They were asking Democratic analysts how to manage the Trump team,” mentioned Medeiros, a Georgetown professor, who met Xie earlier than the election.
“They essentially have one play: persuade business leaders around Trump to go soft on China.”
All ambassadors in Washington try to fulfill individuals who could be a part of the brand new Trump administration. However Beijing faces a selected drawback as a result of Republicans have been unwilling to have interaction Chinese language officers lately as Washington has develop into way more hawkish on China.
Ann Kowalewski, a former Home international affairs committee and Senate international relations committee staffer, mentioned many on Capitol Hill have been reluctant to fulfill Chinese language officers as a result of they felt the conferences wouldn’t be constructive. “There was a general belief that meetings would just be embassy officials reading talking points at them,” she mentioned.
Earlier this yr, Beijing tasked Cui Tiankai, its ambassador throughout Trump’s first administration, to reconnect together with his former contacts within the former president’s crew, however he was largely unsuccessful.
“Over the past few months, influential members of the Chinese Communist party visiting Washington indicated to me that they were having no luck getting appointments” with potential Trump officers, mentioned Dennis Wilder, a former high CIA China skilled.
In a foul omen for Beijing, Trump has nominated China hawks for high roles in his new administration, together with Mike Waltz for nationwide safety adviser and Marco Rubio for secretary of state.
However Chinese language officers are watching intently to see who Trump will title as Treasury secretary — and whether or not Robert Lighthizer, his former commerce consultant, will be a part of the brand new administration. They’re additionally taking note of the position of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who has enterprise pursuits in China and has joined Trump’s internal circle.
A Waltz spokesperson mentioned he didn’t touch upon assembly requests. A Rubio spokesperson didn’t reply to a query about whether or not the Chinese language embassy had reached out. The embassy didn’t remark.
“They don’t appear to have the links to the Trump team they had last time,” mentioned one one who has met Xie and his crew. “The core question they were asking is: “what does Trump want?”
One former US official mentioned China needed “stability” and thought Trump needed to do a cope with Beijing, however they didn’t know what the president-elect needed and have been “in a holding pattern” till negotiating channels emerged.
Christopher Johnson, a former high CIA China analyst, mentioned Chinese language officers have been laser-focused on financial coverage. “Their top three priorities are tariffs, tariffs, and tariffs,” mentioned Johnson, who heads the consultancy China Methods Group.
Johnson mentioned there was debate in Beijing between much less financial literate members of the politburo and technocrats over Trump’s menace to slap 60 per cent tariffs on imports from China.
“The former take the view that, ‘We beat them before and will do so again as we know how to eat bitterness and the spoiled Americans do not.’ The technocrats . . . realise that 60 per cent tariffs — or perhaps even smaller additional levies — could prove devastating for an already strained and deeply vulnerable economy,” he mentioned.
One individual in Beijing with connections to the Chinese language Communist occasion mentioned China needed to do a cope with Trump, if potential.
“The challenge is we don’t know what Trump’s goal is [or] who can connect the two,” he mentioned. “After the four years of the first term, I really don’t think people’s expectation in Beijing towards a deal is high.”
One other individual aware of the considering in Beijing mentioned it was “quite natural” for China to fulfill specialists in Washington forward of the brand new administration.
One one who has engaged with the Chinese language embassy in Washington additionally identified that the actual fact Xie was making an attempt arduous to make connections didn’t imply that Beijing was at midnight concerning the incoming administration.
“Chinese intelligence is almost certainly tracking the coming and goings at Mar-a-Lago,” the individual mentioned, referring to Trump’s West Palm Seashore membership the place he has been interviewing candidates for cupboard posts.
“Xie Feng is an experienced diplomat who knows that being Chinese ambassador is a lonely job in Washington, particularly in this environment,” mentioned Myron Good, a senior counsellor with DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, a consultancy, who has identified Xie for years. He added that it might be an “uphill battle” for the ambassador given the hawkish temper in Washington.
However he famous: “It’s important to note that Trump has an existing relationship with Xi and likely will emphasise his own rapport and channel with the Chinese president.”
