 "US President-elect Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping. Source: Reuters | File.")
US President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration in Washington on January 20, 2025.
A report by CBS News cited multiple sources as saying that the invitation to Trump’s inauguration was extended in early November, shortly after the results of November 5 US Presidential election were declared.
Will Xi Jinping attend Trump’s inauguration?
It is not clear yet if Trump’s invitation has been accepted by Xi, the report said. The two leaders’ last in-person meeting was in June 2019 on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not provide any immediate response on Xi being invited for Trump’s inauguration or him attending it.
But if Xi attends, it would be unprecedented for a leader of China, a top US geopolitical rival, to attend a US presidential inauguration.
Meanwhile, in an interview with NBC News, which was taped on Friday and aired on Sunday, Trump said he “got along with very well” with Xi and that they had “had communication as recently as this week.” The US President-elect, however, did not specify what was discussed during their conversation.
It is worth mentioning that Trump has named numerous China hawks to key posts in his incoming administration, including Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
Invitation after tariff
Trump has said he will impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods unless Beijing does more to stop trafficking of the highly addictive narcotic fentanyl.
In late November, China’s state media warned Trump that his pledge to slap additional tariffs on Chinese goods over fentanyl flows could drag the world’s top two economies into a mutually destructive tariff war.
The US President-elect also threatened tariffs in excess of 60 per cent on Chinese goods while on the campaign trail.
On Wednesday (December 11), China’s US Ambassador Xie Feng read a letter from Xi to a US-China Business Council gala in Washington, in which the Chinese leader said Beijing was prepared to stay in communication with the US.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“We should choose dialogue over confrontation and win-win cooperation over zero-sum games,” Xi said in the letter.
Xie further said that China and the US should not decouple supply chains.
World leaders invited for Trump’s inauguration
Preparations are being made to welcome a host of world leaders at the US Capitol for his inauguration in January.
“World leaders are lining up to meet with President Trump because they know he will soon return to power and restore peace through American strength around the globe,” Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.
With inputs from agencies.