Experts say Trump’s invitation is largely unprecedented, but Xi is unlikely to accept, given their past relations.
Published On 13 Dec 2024
United States President-elect Donald Trump has invited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration ceremony in January, despite his history of hawkish rhetoric and tariff threats.
On Thursday, Trump’s incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed reports of the invitation in an appearance on the conservative TV channel Fox News. She framed the invitation as an effort to strengthen ties between the two countries, long seen as rivals.
“This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too,” Leavitt told the programme Fox & Friends.
Experts say that it would be unprecedented for a Chinese leader to attend a US presidential inauguration, given the frosty relations that have persisted between the two countries for decades.
“This is diplomatic theater, nothing more. Other heads of state, let alone Xi Jinping, haven’t attended US presidential inaugurations,” Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the news agency Reuters.
Experts say Xi is unlikely to accept the invitation. When asked at a briefing about Trump’s invitation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded: “I have nothing to share at present.”
But the symbolism behind his appearance at Trump’s second inauguration would likely be fraught.
Danny Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told The Associated Press that Xi’s attendance – if he accepts – could be construed as the Chinese president “celebrating the triumph of a foreign leader”.
“Can you imagine Xi Jinping sitting outdoors in Washington, DC, in January at the feet of the podium, surrounded by hawkish members of Congress, gazing up at Donald Trump as he delivers his inaugural address?” asked Russel.
Xi and Trump have also butted heads in the past. During Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021, he initiated a trade war with China that saw the two countries impose tariffs on each other’s imports.
In 2019, the United Nations Trade and Development organisation issued a report warning that the trade war w