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 Friday in China by the foreign ministry, came more than a month after Trump extended the unusual invitation to Xi, a break from tradition since no heads of state have previously made an official visit to the US for the inauguration.
“We stand ready to work with the new US government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relations and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other,” the ministry’s spokesperson said when announcing the decision.
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.”
“It indicates that China is willing to talk, negotiate and make efforts to reach deals,” Sun wrote.
Danny Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Beijing is hedging by sending Han instead of Xi.
“Zero chance that Xi Jinping would allow himself to be potted plant at Donald Trump’s triumphal coronation. At the same time, ensuring that China extends enough courtesy to avoid bruising Trump’s ego,” Russel wrote. Han’s mission, the former American diplomat said, is “symbolic, not substantive.”
The dispatch of Han comes as the US-China rivalry is set to intensify. Several of Trump’s nominees for key Cabinet positions are known China hawks, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who’s nominated as secretary of state. Rubio called China “the most potent, dangerous and near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted” during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, when members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged Rubio to make countering China a top 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 has traveled abroad for state visits and summits. But he did not attend the coronation of King Charles III, nor did he 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 King Charles III’s coronation. When Trump invited Xi to the inauguration in December, it was widely believed that Xi was unlikely to come.